Trying Not To Love You
by Lady.Of.Cythera
Summary: Rukia never thought she'd be a spy, but when her brother is caught up in a financial crisis, she has no other choice. However, the company she is up against gives her a (very attractive) boss who's incredibly easy to hate, and seems to bring out the very worst in her. But as she begins to get to know him, the question she is forced to answer surfaces: Who's side is she really on?
1. Almost

**Just a little heads up that certain parts of this chapter are muddled up****,**** date wise. Some bits earlier on actually happened later. I realise this makes no sense, so just read it and ****enjoy! :D**

"Rukia?"

She knew that tone.

It was code for 'I fucked up big time and I know you're going to be so mad you'll want to throw me out a ten storey building in three seconds flat'.

But because that was a mouthful to say over and over again, it was easier just to use that tone.

Sighing and tossing her raven hair over her shoulder, Rukia Kuchiki straightened up her back and slid gracefully off her mattress. As expected, she heard a tentative knock on her bedroom door accompanied by a second calling of her name. At a hurried attempt of grabbing her Chappy printed nightgown to make herself decent, she almost tripped over a stray pillow sitting on her lilac carpeted floor.

_Almost_.

Rukia was the type of girl you might describe as being an 'almost' girl.

Everything with her was almost.

Everything.

That was sometimes good. But it was sometimes bad.

"Yes, Byakuya?" She answered, expectantly, "Is there something you need?"

A short, brief silence followed before the said man cleared his throat, "Can I... come in?"

With her hand already on the handle, Rukia pushed it down and opened the door to reveal her older brother still dressed in his sleek, black work suit.

Her brother definitely _wasn't _an 'almost' type of guy.

In fact... nobody would dare refer to Byakuya as _an__y_ type of guy.

Why?

He was a respectable man with a respectable job and a respectable title.

Byakuya Kuchiki was a respectable type of _man_.

Folding his hands primly behind his back, he looked up beneath his long, black hair, and spoke with a tone as cold as his steel, grey eyes, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have had to make a contract with another company – an informal contract. One that... doesn't involve signatures or papers but I still need to vocally sign it, if you will."

Waiting expectantly, Rukia kept her deep violet eyes on her brother, attempting to mirror the same indifference his proclaimed.

"I'll explain the depth of this contract later. But, the main difficulty is that we have to move out. We need to change cities and make a fresh start again. It is a burden I do not wish for you to carry, Rukia, but I'm afraid it is out of my hands. I'll explain everything later, but I thought you might need to know now so you can be packed up by tomorrow morning."

Rukia almost flinched.

_Almost_.

Instead, she remained completely straight-faced and nodded her head once, "Yes, Byakuya. I understand. I'll be ready to leave by the morning."

Although it took a lot to break her brother's emotionless façade, Rukia swore she saw a hint of regret flicker behind his stony eyes.

"Thank you, Rukia. I'm sorry to spring this on you so suddenly." He sounded as apologetic as a man who expressed little emotion could.

She didn't respond, but placed her hand back on the door handle – a subtle cue for her brother to leave.

Picking up instantly on her inconspicuous hint, he bowed his head, and swept from the room, his hands still clasped firmly behind his back.

She hadalmost gotten used to the idea of staying in one place after the fifteen times they had moved in the past five years.

She had almost gotten settled into the new city.

She had almost been happy.

_Almost_.

…

"Mr Kurosaki?"

He knew that tone.

It was code for 'I know I really, _really _shouldn't be disturbing you unless I want to lose my job, but...'

He didn't react.

He just continued doing exactly what he was doing before the irritating interruption arose.

…Which was, of course, spinning his pen skilfully around his fingertips.

He'd have you know that it was a very taxing duty which required much concentration and shouldn't be disturbed by _anybody_.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

His low grunt was a sign that the interrupter was permitted access to his office, but he was not overly-enthusiastic about the prospect at all.

It had better be worth his time.

As the door opened, a tall, busty ginger haired girl with soft grey eyes entered into the room, clutching a pile of papers in her left arm.

"I know you hate to be disturbed when you're working, Sir, but Nanao said she received an application form that she wanted me to look over. So, I did. Usually she doesn't pass them onto me unless she believes them to be important–"

Mr Kurosaki interjected with a grunt which clearly meant 'shut the hell up and just give me the damn file'.

His personal assistant paused at the sound, however when her beloved boss did nothing else – but spin his pen – she continued, much to his silent disapproval.

"–Anyway, I looked over it and I thought you might be interested in reading it. There are five outstanding references enclosed and–"

"–The file, Orihime."

At the sound of his deep, masculine voice, Orihime faltered over her words and held out the application form to her boss, "Of course, Sir. When you've looked over it, please let me know – if it isn't too much trouble for you – so I can tell Nanao to get in touch with her."

Mr Kurosaki's little finger twitched, and Orihime had seen it enough times to know that meant – you may leave.

Although, to Mr Kurosaki, it meant – get the fuck out.

Doubling over forwards several times over so her lengthy ginger hair bounced ecstatically about her flushing face, Orihime swept from the room.

Why did she _always_ have to bow?

He sat for a moment, his eyes agitatedly staring through his mop of unruly hair at the applicant's file on his desk.

He supposed he'd better read it soon enough.

Finally, he ceased spinning his pen and placed it quietly down on the table.

Reaching over, he gathered up the papers and began to lazily flick through them.

His personal assistant was, for once, right about one thing.

He _was _interested in this applicant.

He was _very _interested, indeed.

"Mr Kurosaki?"

It had been only one hour since he'd last seen her face.

_One_ hour.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

He replied this time with a louder grunt, expressing a little annoyance.

Why couldn't his personal assistant leave him alone? She was always asking if he wanted this, or if he wanted that. But what he really wanted was her to just get on with her job and stop bothering him. Dropping the papers back down onto the desk, he picked up his pen to continue spinning it.

Yes, he had read the file for a whole hour and would still be reading it, if there hadn't been interruptions...

The door opened a crack, just enough for Orihime to poke her head into his office, "Is there anything you need?"

Ichigo sighed. There were several things he needed. One... for the irritatingly happy personal assistant to leave him the hell alone. Why was she always so happy to work for him? It was common knowledge that Mr Kurosaki was no picnic. Okay... he was a total asshole. So it was a mystery to him why Orihime doted on his every need. Sure, it was nice enough, but it was as galling as hell. He tried so hard to make her dislike him. Most of the others probably did, so why not her?

"Arrange an interview." He ordered her, his almost inaudible voice low.

Smiling warmly, his personal assistant edged her way into the room. It was a memorable milestone that her boss actually spoke three words to her all in the same sentence – but even more so that this was the second full sentence he'd spoken that day. He must have been in a good mood today!

"Excellent! When are you free?" Her voice was laid thick with excitement and joy that it took all he had not to stick his fingers in his ears and boot her out the room.

But, of course, that would take unnecessary time and effort.

Flicking through his phone, he still kept his eyes concealed behind his spiky fringe before shrugging, "Tomorrow. Four."

"Thank you, Sir. Can I get you a coffee?"

He graced her with a curt nod. That was enough words for her today.

Oh, and she had better bring him a bagel with that...

…

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Byakuya Kuchiki avoided looking directly into his sister's eyes as he muttered, "Rukia, you have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you. These people are very valuable to us. Just remember to be yourself." He told her, as earnestly as he could.

Nodding her head, Rukia glanced away. She knew could never be herself. For one, she didn't know how and for two, she doubted anybody would like the real her, anyway.

But she'd act how her brother wanted her to.

It had never failed anybody up to now.

That is... everybody besides herself.

They were standing before a huge, peculiar house. Rukia had never seen anything like it.

It was an odd sort of shape, with completely mismatching coloured bricks, an obscurely large chimney and an oval shaped door.

She had thought they were rich and... noble where companies were concerned. Surely that should mean they could purchase a house that didn't offend the rest of society.

Byakuya extended his arm and knocked politely on the rounded door.

It didn't take long before the door opened and a pair of huge boobs answered.

Oh, wait... there was a head around there, somewhere.

Her jagged black hair was partially concealed by a strange looking bandage and she looked as if she was wearing some kind of... red leotard. Maybe she was a gymnast. Though it would have been a surprise if she could jump upwards without her boobs weighing her down…

But, either way, it didn't really matter what she was wearing, because to be honest, it wasn't much. There was more skin than fabric on show and Rukia wondered what on Earth Byakuya was doing, bringing her to a prostitution centre...

Then again, she noticed Byakuya looked just as mildly shocked as she did.

Maybe they'd got the wrong address.

With any luck.

"Kaien! Door!" The woman yelled raucously up the stairs.

Rukia chanced a sideways at her brother who had awkwardly averted his eyes from the scantily clad woman and jutted his chin out to the side, waiting for the uncomfortable scene to pass.

"Alright, be down in a minute, sis!"

That was his sister...?!

She motioned for the two siblings to enter into her home and she wandered away, pulling out a curious looking cigar.

Why on Earth would you allow your sister to wear something as revealing and immodest as that in the same house as you?!

Or at all?

If she wore something like that, then she could bet her bottom dollar that Byakuya would disown her.

But, she wasn't one to judge. In fact, she was already beginning to feel a little bad. They were probably a lovely family and there she was prejudging them all.

A thud followed by the painful sound of skin against skin echoed through the countless rooms in the house before the masculine voice yelped, "Ouch! Sis, no need to slap me so hard!"

"You have guests, idiot! Wipe that gormless expression off your pathetic face! Where the hell is my other idiot brother? He'd better not be out. He hasn't even done the dishes, yet!"

Or, maybe not…

The voice belonging to who Rukia expected to be Kaien winced, "That's probably why he's out then, isn't it?"

"Oh, shut up and go see to your guests, moron."

Both Kuchikis stood awkwardly as a tall man with a black spiky mullet of hair mooched around the corner, scratching the back of his head, "'Sup. Glad you could make it, man. And... who's this rare and delicate angel?"

Rukia almost blushed at the way his startling green eyes landed appreciatively on her.

_Almost_.

But this Kaien seemed a little... strange.

Didn't her brother say he was in charge of a major company? Not that that would mean he was strange, of course…

Byakuya rested a hand lightly on his sister's shoulder, though Rukia could sense a slight hint of over-protectiveness in his fingers, "This is my sister, Miss Rukia Kuchiki."

"Miss Kuchiki, hm? Quite a snappy name, right? But you know what I think would sound better?" He leaned down and winked at her, "Mrs Rukia Shiba."

Feeling the tension Byakuya's grip on her shoulder, Rukia managed a tight smile, "Charming."

Byakuya had told her to be polite and accept him for the way he was – but she had no idea he would be this... overwhelming.

"So, come in and sit down. You'll have to excuse my sister... she's a bit of a grouch–"

"–I _heard _that, spike head!" The loud voice of Kaien's sister called down from the upper regions of the house, but Kaien just smirked.

"Ignore her. Anyway... so let's get down to business, shall we? So, Mr K, I heard over the phone what kind of thing you're hoping for. I was thinking instead of working for me, you should work _with_ me. You know... have a partnership, or something. How does that sound?" The tall man ushered both Kuchikis into his large living room and rather than inviting them to sit, he just shoved them both down onto his sofa.

"Well... it does sound like it would be a good deal... for me. What's the condition?" He asked, his suspicion growing more by the second – not that he would show it.

Kaien shrugged, his emerald eyes landing back on Rukia, "No condition... except, I need to get to know you both a little better. I can only afford to have one of you being a part of my company. But we're hoping to take over a couple of companies. Maybe you could work for one of them, Mrs Shiba? That way we all win, understand?"

Byakuya stiffened once again but Rukia raised her eyebrows, "I beg your pardon? You want me to… to spy for you?" Even as she spoke it, the words sounded utterly ridiculous.

He laughed, "I wouldn't call it spying... but I would call it, a very good position for you to be in. You should send out a couple of applications to a few different companies. I'm more likely to overthrow a company if I have someone working for them. I might even pay you extra if you... would kindly meet up with me this Friday night?"

Byakuya was shaking his head before Kaien had finished his question, but Rukia sensed this would be a good opportunity for her and her brother to get into his good books. After all, he was very rich and seemed generous enough.

One date couldn't hurt.

"It's fine. Yes, I'd be honoured to meet up with you this Friday."

She could feel Byakuya's questioning eyes on her, but she couldn't look at him in that moment, or she'd back out. Screaming.

Her brother had done so much for her, the least she could do was accept a date from the man wanting to fix their lives back up again. It was just _one _outing, right?

Right.

Flashing a large toothy grin, Kaien handed over a card to her and allowed his fingers to brush hers. The spark she thought she might have felt seemed to forget to strike and instead, she felt a little uneasy at his forwardness.

That may have been because she wasn't used to this kind of open attention from males.

She was used to courtesy and formality or respect. Instead, he seemed a little offhand about it all.

Not that she minded the change, but it would take some getting used to.

"So, there's my number, darling. You just give me a call about Friday and we'll arrange it then. And you, my brother-in-law, you will come see me tomorrow and we'll talk more business. How does that sound?"

He nodded, his lips pursed, "Of course."

"Excellent." There was that toothy grin again, "Guess I'll be seeing you both soon enough!"

He stood up and both siblings followed suit, smiles frozen onto their lips.

Rukia just hoped she'd make it through the week...

...alive.

…

"Oh, it really is lovely to meet you, Miss Kuchiki!"

A sickly sweet female's voice greeted Rukia not a second after she'd stepped out of the lift.

She had always liked to be in high places and being on the top floor of a twenty storey building suited her quite nicely. But she wasn't too keen on the sound of the voice that was floating around.

The woman belonging to the sickly sweet voice beamed happily at the new arrival and thrust her hand towards her.

Refraining from raising her eyebrows, Rukia forced a good-natured smile and received her outstretched hand.

Giving it a firm shake, she rather hoped that this woman wouldn't always speak with that pitch or volume every time she opened her mouth. The thought made her ears itch and her stomach feel a little sick...

Although, admittedly the woman was very beautiful.

That must have been something about this town.

So far, every woman she had come across in Karakura seemed to have boobs the size of boulders.

She felt a _little_ out of place...

"My name is Miss Inoue. I am the boss' personal assistant." She told her, retracting her evidently moisturised hand and clasping it with her other just beneath her sizeable breasts. Oh, stop rubbing it in… Rukia almost snorted at the way she poked her small nose a little proudly up in the air and continued, "I should tell you a few things about the boss before you meet him... Mr Kurosaki is different to all other bosses you may be familiar with. Don't let him get you tense or frustrated. He doesn't like anger. Speak only when spoken to... and one more thing... don't ask him personal questions. He's a very private person." She spoke as if she knew the guy inside out. Maybe she did... But if he was a very private person, surely he wouldn't tell her everything about himself, would he? Unless... he trusted her. But judging by the snooty way Miss Inoue had told her about his expectations, she figured his personal assistant wasn't more informed than she hoped to be.

Already, Mr Kurosaki seemed like some sort of mystery man.

Maybe he was old with a lot of stories to tell and secrets to keep. Usually bosses were experienced, middle-aged and arrogant asses.

By the sounds of things, he was definitely an ass, but clearly Miss Inoue held him in high regards.

Maybe she liked asses... as weird as that sounded in her head.

As she led her into a room full of office workers, she tried to keep her eyes focused on the back of Miss Inoue. But it was difficult considering the stares she could feel were on her from around the room. The sound of typing at computers and scratching of pens on paper had stopped and an unbearable silence ensued.

Managing to keep her posture straight and upright, Rukia followed the personal assistant to a door with the name, _Mr I. Kurosaki_ printed on the tinted window. It was impossible to see inside the office which just highlighted this man's mystery.

"I'll just check to make sure he's ready for you." Straightening out her blouse, Miss Inoue knocked on the door, pressing her ear to the wood, "Mr Kurosaki?"

Rukia couldn't hear a word of reply, but the personal assistant waited for a moment until she received some kind of signal – whatever that might have been – before opening the door, "Sir, Miss Kuchiki is here."

She waited for a moment until receiving yet another unknown signal before she pushed the door open and indicated for Rukia to enter.

_Don't _be yourself, Rukia. Be how Byakuya thinks you are. Be reserved, dignified, calm.

And _don't _lose your temper.

Taking a deep breath and steadying herself, she strode confidently into the room, a smile plastered to her lips. She could not see beyond Inoue, who was currently speaking, in reverent tones, "Excuse me, Sir, would you like me to get another chair?"

When Rukia didn't hear a reply, she wondered exactly how this man communicated with others.

"Right... okay. I understand. You just want it to be the two of you. Okay, I hope everything goes well."

How did she come to that conclusion? Telepathy? Turning on her heels, the ginger woman bowed her head, "Good luck, Miss Kuchiki. It was wonderful to meet you."

"You too." Rukia nodded, stepping aside in order to let the woman pass her and close the door behind her sorry self.

As she averted her eyes to the desk, she felt herself caught a little off guard.

Inoue was right. This man wasn't like other bosses.

The first thing that struck her attention was his nearly neon looking hair.

It looked like someone had grated a carrot on his head...

It was slightly like Kaien's. Spiky, unruly, but a little shorter and... stylishly messy. Very stylishly messy... but kind of original and cute... and also bright orange.

No, she did _not _just think her boss' hair was cute.

Even if it was a little bit...

Rukia noticed that his hair was so messy that it had fringed his eyes, and wondered how on Earth he could see anything – besides orange.

Moving her eyes down, she took in the smooth slope of his nose, his defined cheekbones and a jaw that must have been carved by angels. Up to now, as much as she hated to admit it, he was quite appealing to the eye. The only thing she wasn't too fussed about was the way his lips were formed into a dark scowl. But if only she could see those eyes...

His – very muscular (not that she noticed) – body seemed to have adopted a relaxed pose; slouched, easy and calm.

He was spinning a pen around between his fingers and hadn't even bothered to ask her to sit down, just yet.

Just what kind of boss was he?

"Mr Kurosaki, it's a pleasure to meet you." She hoped he would take the hint and begin the interview like most bosses would have done at this point – or even if they hadn't began it yet, they would have at least spoken, right?

Mr Kurosaki, on the other hand, was leaning back in his chair, taking a moment to assess the appearance of the new presence in the room and the way she feigned politeness in her tone as if trying to speak like an innocent high school girl.

Of course she didn't think it was a pleasure to meet him. If she did, she wouldn't have fixed that pretentious smile in place on her... full, pink lips.

Well, she was having a good look at him and whether she knew it or not, he decided it was only fair to return the favour.

Besides... although he kept his eyes hidden, he was well aware she was looking curiously at his fringe, most likely wondering why he wasn't making eye contact.

No matter, she'd get used to it.

The way she strode into the room was also an act. He could tell her confidence was just all part of her fake demeanour.

But what caught his attention was not how short and petite she was or how she was different to every other woman in his office, but to how she pulled off looking sexy without parading her body around as if she was a swan. The eloquence seemed to radiate from every fibre in her body. He had to admit, he was drawn in by the way her glossy black hair framed her petite face and the stray bang strewing down the centre amused him. Her pale skin held no blemishes at all and although her build was different to what he was used to seeing on Orihime and a select few of his other workers, he far preferred it. He often felt like he was talking to his personal assistant's boobs by the way they were the first things to enter his room each morning, practically grinning right at him. However, Miss Kuchiki's build was... delicate. She had gentle curves – not like porn star size, but not like a boy, either. She was... just right. Of course, not for him, but for whomever her current boyfriend was. He was a lucky guy – providing she dropped the façade she was using when she was with him and decided to actually smile – genuinely smile – not just pull her lips up so high her cheeks appeared to be hurting.

In every mask, there had to be a place where the actor or actress could see through, whether it was eye-holes or a gap in the mouth. It didn't matter. But that was the problem with masks. The eye-holes were flaws. Although it meant the person wearing the mask could see everyone else, it also meant that everyone else could see through the mask.

Similarly, the only flaw in Miss Kuchiki's mask was her eyes. Although they appeared bright and excited – Mr Kurosaki could see that behind those violet-blue orbs were several burdens she had been forced to carry alone. She was cold and a little unfeeling but… that could have been due to external influences – her upbringing, perhaps. They were the only windows to her soul – but they were closed to the world. She had so much to tell, but nobody to tell it to. He could see that much. Already, he could tell she was an interesting character.

Getting her true personality to shine through would be a fun game to play.

One thing he looked for in an employee was character.

He never hired a boring applicant.

There was no point in training a writer who had no wit, no stories, or no charisma. Nothing.

People want to read from someone who has had experience. Not someone who pretends to be clued up about the world…

He didn't take the hand she had offered him, but indicated for her to take a seat in front of his desk. Why did she offer him her hand? He could tell that the last thing she wanted to do was shake his.

Inclining her head forwards, Rukia perched herself on the edge of the seat and swept her gaze over Mr Kurosaki once more.

It had appeared she was mistaken when she believed him to be relaxed. She could see it now. The tension in his tight jaw, the way he'd attempted to come across as being tranquil actually looked as though he had been sitting in one position for too long and had become rigid from cramp. However, he didn't change the way he was sitting, but just continued to spin that ridiculous pen.

The way he kept silent irritated her a little.

Was he a mute?

Or was he just downright rude?

Miss Inoue had warned her in advance, but she could have given her a heads up about the whole silence thing.

"What's with the mask?" His sudden expel of words took her by surprise, but yet she remained still.

"I... beg your pardon, Sir?" She asked, the confusion in her tone evident.

"Your mask. What's with it?" Well, unless he was addressing the dying plant on the windowsill, he was definitely talking to her.

This wasn't at all the way she had expected an interview to begin.

"I'm not wearing a mask, Sir."

His jaw flexed – and as bemused as she was by his sudden outburst, she couldn't help but notice how the way he spoke seemed forced. She believed it would be easier for him to speak smoothly and kindly, yet there was an unmistakable hard edge to his tone and that was what caused her expression to harden, "I'm not stupid. I can see straight through you." He told her, evenly.

Applying an equally cold boundary to her tone, Rukia narrowed her eyes, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She didn't respond well to insults. Ever.

But she kept having to remind herself to act how Byakuya would want her to.

Though that proved to be difficult when this Mr Kurosaki was so… so aggravating!

"Take it off." He instructed, still not looking up beneath that mad, orange waterfall.

"Excuse me?"

"The mask. Take it off." He repeated, his voice remaining firm and demanding.

That was when every feature portrayed just exactly how affronted she felt at that moment.

You don't come into an interview only to be told to take off a mask that you're not even wearing!

"That's better." The ghost of a smirk was haunting his lips and his scowl had relaxed ever so slightly, but before she could reply, he continued, "Where you worked... what were the people like?"

Closing her agape mouth, she resumed her previous expression and spoke with an air of great civility, "Personality wise – they were all very... reserved. They were intelligent, though, and always seemed to say things that made sense."

She just had to throw in that last little bit there, presumably just to stab at Mr Kurosaki's supposed lack of sense. Although... he knew she understood what he meant about the mask, even if she pretended she didn't.

"Did you enjoy working with them?" He asked, not commenting on her reply.

He already knew what her response would be. It could go one of two ways. The least likely reaction would be for her to look a little shocked at him asking a question which may seem a little personal, but the most likely reaction would be for her expression to stay as cold as it was already.

This time, he _did _smirk.

She took it upon herself to keep her face free of all emotion, "Very much so."

"You were sad to go?"

It took her a moment to answer before she blinked, "Almost."

"Almost." He spoke the word as if it was a new taste to his tongue – unsure whether it was bitter... or sweet.

"Yes." She clarified, crossing one leg over the other, elegantly.

"Miss Rukia Kuchiki..." The way her name rolled off his tongue should have been a deadly sin. Her heart seemed to trip over itself for a couple of measured seconds before it found its rhythm once more, "...As I'm sure you're aware, this is a very different environment to the ones you're used to."

_No, you're just different, _she thought to herself.

"...However, this does not mean we do not take our jobs very seriously. I, personally, do things my own way here."

"I can see that." She remarked, icily.

"Well, clearly since you are so observant, you may or may not be aware that there are constantly other companies trying to take over us..." He quipped, that smirk threatening to show once more.

_Surely he doesn't know _that _much about me? If only I could see his eyes... I'd know for c__ertain what he was thinking._

"...We need what's best for the company right now. Do you think you're what's best for the company?" He stopped fiddling with his pen, awaiting her answer.

Pausing for a moment, she sighed before nodding, "Yes."

"You do? Judging by the way you've acted in this meeting, I am in a good mind to reject your opinion."

He _knew _she would say yes. She could tell by the way his retort was already waiting behind his teeth.

"If I may, Mr Kurosaki–"

"–Sir." He corrected, proceeding to turn the pen about his fingertips once more.

Exhaling, Rukia knows it wouldn't be long before she hated her boss – and yes, she would have been willing to sign it as an official statement, "If I may, _Sir_, it wasn't my entire fault. It would unfair to point the finger at me, when I think you know as well as I do... I was a little provoked."

Mr I. Kurosaki let a breath pass through his delectable – _Rukia! _Mr I. Kurosaki let a breath pass through his... lips, and it almost sounded as though it could have been the ghost of a laugh.

_Almost_.

Perhaps he was an 'almost' type of guy, too.

But he was working for a major company, and manager over an entire sect.

That disproved _that _theory, then.

"The thing is, Miss Kuchiki, I am not like other bosses, because I act different. I am harsh like them, I am mean like them, and I am as rude as them. But they usually do it behind your back so they don't run the risk of getting sued. I, on one hand, do not care who tries to sue me, because I will personally kick their ass in return. I may be private – which I'm sure Orihime has told you – but I am not a two-faced bitch. Besides... what fun is it if I don't get my employees riled up every once in a while. I need to know you can stomach it. If you really want this job, Kuchiki, do you think you can find it within your kind heart to put up with my shit?"

He was _definitely _not like other bosses...

She bowed her head, a little reluctantly, but she knew she had to take this job for her brother's sake. Kaien seemed like an openly decent guy, but Rukia knew he also seemed like the type of guy who got everything he wanted. She hated people like that, but when her brother was involved, she had no choice but to give Mr Shiba what he wanted.

"Of course, Sir."

"Excellent." Slamming down a piece of paper onto the desk, he pushed it towards her, placing a different pen to the one he was spinning on top of it, "Sign it. Start tomorrow. Eight. We'll deal with your routine then."

Rukia briefly scanned the contract before placing her signature on the bottom line before she asked, "What's the date?"

"This Saturday night? If you're not busy?" Came the smug reply, "Just kidding. No need to look at me like that, Miss Kuchiki... It's the second, today. Man, you really need to lighten up."

She relaxed the grip on the pen before she finished scratching in the date. What was him all of a sudden?

"I am not a man." She muttered, annoyance written plainly on her features.

"No shit, Sherlock. Besides, I don't ask guys on dates."

Rukia wondered vaguely who he actually did ask on a date. She assumed he would be the type to back somebody in a corner and _tell _them they're going to go out. Asking permission was out of the question with this guy. If he wanted something, it appeared he would stop at no lengths to get it.

Sometimes that was a good thing... other times it wasn't.

Handing the contract back over to him, she stood up, picking up her bag from beside her chair and placed – with much force – a smile back on her face, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

"Don't say things you don't mean, Kuchiki. Don't smile either. You hate me."

Well, at least he knew.

"I thought it courteous to do so." She told him, honestly, but pulled the corners of her lips back down once more.

"Don't be courteous with me. It doesn't become you at all." He told her, seriously, "I prefer it when you look like you want to tear my head off with your bare hands. Anyway... see you tomorrow, Miss Rukia Kuchiki."

Okay, she was ninety eight percent sure he said her name in that sinfully attractive way on purpose…

He was probably trying to get her to react.

And she did. Not _almost_. She _did_.

A heavy blush tainted her cheeks as she turned from the room, "See you tomorrow."

But, she _never _blushed!

"I look forwards to it."

_Yes, Mr I. Kurosaki, I'm sure you do._

On her way out of the office, Rukia nearly walked into Orihime who had clearly been pressing her ear to the door, waiting for the opportune moment to burst in and see to her beloved boss' needs.

"Whoops, sorry, Miss Kuchiki." She took a step back and bowed her head, with deep respect.

What an odd woman.

"Oh, don't worry about it; I should have watched where I was going." She continued on her way from the office before the personal assistant caught up with her.

"Hey, wait, Miss Kuchiki."

"Please... call me Rukia."

Miss Inoue smiled, warmly, "I take it you got the job, then."

_L__ike you weren't listening..._

"Yes, I did." Rukia returned the smile, a little stiffly, as Miss Inoue swung into step beside her.

"So... what do you think to him?" The forced interest in her voice made Rukia wonder just what her deal was.

She was one possessive assistant...

"To who?" She asked, vaguely.

"You know. To Mr Kurosaki."

"Oh, he's an ass."

Sounding slightly relieved, but a little defensive at the same time, Miss Inoue responded, "He'll grow on you."

"I would hope not."

"Well, you certainly seemed to get him out of his shell today. Usually he's like a closed up clam." She informed her, attempting a cheerful laugh, subconsciously smoothing down her ginger hair.

Yep, she'd definitely been listening.

"Is that so? Well, I think I'd prefer him to keep closed up, if that's the case."

As they approached the life, the personal assistant giggled, "You're so funny. I'll be glad to see you around here more often."

Stepping into the lift, Rukia managed a polite smile and she waved, a little awkwardly, "Yeah... Bye, Miss Inoue."

"Oh, please. Just call me Orihime. Everybody else does."

"Right, sure. See you tomorrow, Orihime." And then the doors closed, leaving Rukia feeling utterly dazed.

What was that woman's deal? She was very... Mr Kurosaki orientated.

She couldn't see why either. He was a complete mystery. Everything about him was so... rude and annoying.

But, maybe Orihime saw something in him that others didn't.

Maybe beneath that man of mystery was a boy with hopes and dreams.

Maybe she wasn't the only one putting up a front.

Maybe he wore a mask too.

**Okay, so this story is kind of an experiment. Not sure whether you guys like it or not, but if you do, let me know and I'l****l keep the updates coming :) Just a break between The Boy With Black Hair And Amber Eyes and its sequel. Hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you all think and if you have any ideas – haul them at me! :)**


	2. You Will Be The Death Of Me

**Happy new year!**

**So a big thank you to asnah699, an unE1 st8, cm, and also to the three unnamed guest reviewers! I am so grateful for your support! **

Rukia pushed the front door closed behind her and wiped her black boots on the doormat just as a friendly aroma of roast, seasoned chicken greeted her nose.

Allowing herself a small, confused smile, she headed off into the kitchen to see her brother standing rigidly at the counter with her Chappy the rabbit apron tied fashionably (or not) around his waist.

Cooking.

Was he... sick? He _never _cooked.

Ever.

"How did the interview go? When do you find out if you have the job?" He asked, immediately sensing her presence and leaning over the gas to appraise the saucepan of vegetables.

Nodding her head – even though he could not see her – Rukia replied, a little unenthusiastically, "Well... I got the job. I start tomorrow... But what's the special occasion? You never cook... and when you do... it's never like a roast dinner. You usually just throw some rice in the microwave or something."

"First things first... congratulations. Though I never had any real doubts you wouldn't succeed. I'm making dinner because I didn't think you'd have time to what with your interview... and I didn't want to keep him waiting. So, I took the liberty of cooking something original." He responded, a little offhandedly.

Okay... what?

"'Him'? Keep who waiting, exactly?"

She had the gut feeling she knew exactly who 'he' was.

Sighing lightly, he stopped wiping the wine glass he was holding and turned to face his sister, a little gravely, "Mr Shiba called me. He's coming over for dinner."

"Why on Earth did you invite him?" Rukia asked, taken aback as to what could have possibly possessed her brother's mind to do such an irrational thing as to invite Mr Shiba to dinner!

Then, he proceeded to face the counter once more, picking up the perfectly polished glass and continued on with his needless chore, "I didn't."

Dammit.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" She did not feel like entertaining anybody at that moment... especially Kaien. A whole night of 'Mrs Shiba this' and 'Mrs Shiba that' was something she really could live without.

Her interview with darling Mr Kurosaki had led her into a foul mood.

No matter.

She would be doing this for her brother.

She would _not _fall in love with him and she would _not _let him take her on a second date.

Kaien, that was.

She wouldn't have a clue how she'd react if her new boss asked her on a date.

Expecting to feel some kind of repulsion at this, Rukia screwed up her face, but no such emotion arose and her adopted expression seemed a little pointless.

Instead, she felt a little intrigued.

She wondered again if he _did _ever ask a girl on a date. He didn't seem like the 'asking type'...

"Well..." Byakuya deliberated for a moment before relaxing his shoulders in an attempt to appear comfortable, though Rukia could see he was far from it, "...He's got a... oh, what would you call it? He's got a bit of a... 'thing'... for you, Rukia."

What? Oh, Kaien. That's right.

"Hence why he kept referring to me as Mrs Shiba." She offered, moving towards the drawers, "I'll set the table."

Although she could tell he was trying to sound nonchalant, the strained tension leaked into his tones as he replied, "It sort of goes a bit further than that, I think. He has read your work. He likes it. He likes your passion... He also suggested you dedicate a piece to him."

Forcing herself to laugh, she shook her head, slowly, "His idea of a joke, I'm sure."

Byakuya had stopped pretending to clean glasses by this point and was merely standing tersely by the counter instead, "No. That's the problem… He wasn't. I had never seen him look so serious. I think he wants there to be more than just a date or two with you. I think – well... I _know _he's got more than just a thing for you. He seems to idolise you. Of course, he told me all this _after _I'd already accepted his idea of coming over for dinner. Just be on your guard, Rukia. That man is haywire."

"He's certainly dynamic." She agreed, expressionlessly, straightening up the table cloth, "So, when is your future brother-in-law arriving?"

Her brother pushed back from the counter and stared at her, "Please tell me you aren't being serious with that title."

She shrugged, "I hope I'm not being serious."

"Good – because I'm not sure I can even cope with him as a boss, never mind a brother-in... oh, I can't even say it..." He trailed away, a little disgusted, "Well, he should be here any moment." Whipping off the apron, Byakuya placed the expertly polished wineglasses on the table along with a bottle of the best, "Do you need to change attire?"

Rukia quirked an eyebrow and sighed, placing down the cutlery, "Maybe. Perhaps I'll wear something vile so he'll never want to see me again." She mused to herself, grabbing her bag on her way up the stairs.

She was only half-joking.

…Or maybe it wasn't a joke at all…

…

"So, I'm not so sure I'm familiar with this side of town..." Mr Kaien Shiba himself leaned back in his chair, placing down his napkin, a content smirk placed on his lips. After pushing his empty plate away, he turned to face Rukia, only for the… millionth time that evening, "Mrs Shiba... care to take me on a little – or a big – tour?"

_Not in the slightest._

Inclining his head to the side, Byakuya surveyed his sister, just as interested in her response as Kaien was.

She pushed back a lock of raven hair and her eyes flickered subtly to her brother's, "Why, of course."

Standing up, Rukia brushed down her dress and moved towards the coat pegs to fetch her handbag and phone – she may need it...

The unmistakable grin widened on Kaien's lips as he followed suit and went to fetch their coats, "Excellent."

Sparing one final, fleeting glance at her brother, Rukia civilly gestured for Kaien to leave the house first. In doing so, his arm brushed hers and he smirked, evidently proud of himself for such a sneaky motion... Rolling her eyes and sweeping from the premises, the young Kuchiki closed the door behind them.

Conversationally, she asked, "So, this company you want me to work for... do you know a lot about it?"

Kaien offered her his arm, and deciding to appeal to his better nature, she hesitantly took it, awaiting his reply. He laughed, loudly, "Oh, I know plenty about it and the people who work there. You sure you want to talk business right now, though?"

She nodded, desperately hoping to keep his mouth busy with conversation that wasn't focusing on her, "Absolutely. I'm starting there tomorrow." There was nothing better to talk about, after all… and heaven forbid he should start calling her his 'wife' in public.

A smile landed on his lips and he nudged her side with his, "Brilliant. Well, the workers are all wonderfully efficient – have great character to them. I know a couple of them personally, although they don't know it's me who's trying to take over the company, I assume. I look forwards to having them work for me. I'll offer them to keep their jobs, of course..."

She began to switch off, finding herself completely uninterested in the workers. Why she'd ever brought it up, she didn't know...

"...love it there. It's a fantastic little office – but it'll do far better when I'm in charge."

"What about their boss?" Rukia asked, internally scolding herself on bringing him up in conversation.

"What? Do you mean the manager? Yoruichi Shihōin?" He asked, glancing down to look at her as they strolled down the dimly-lit roads.

Shaking her head, she corrected him, "No, the boss of the office you're planning to take over."

He chuckled, lightly, "Kurosaki? Ha. I'm not going to lie... he's not easy to overthrow. But with your help, he'll be no problem."

Rukia frowned, "He's not the manager of the company?"

"Well, there are several offices within the company – his office produces of all kinds of magazines, newspapers and other written articles in the media. However, as of lately, their items haven't been as popular since my own company clamped down and stepped ahead of the game. It's all very complicated." He told her, unable to keep the patronising tones from his explanation, "If we take down Kurosaki's office – which is the most successful out of all the offices in that company – then gaining ownership of the Shihōin company won't be an issue at all."

Nodding, a look of concentration clear upon her features, Rukia sighed to herself. She _almost _felt sorry for her new boss. But, she reminded herself he was an ass and probably had it coming to him, "Do you know him well?" Why was she still talking about him again?

"Who? Kurosaki?"

She inclined her head, fixing her eyes on the stretch of damp pavement beneath their feet.

Releasing a bitter laugh, Kaien replied, "Oh, yes. I know him very well. It is for that reason why I cannot wait to kick him off his high horse and onto his fucking ass."

Rukia blinked, mildly shocked. This was the first time she had seen Kaien show a hint of anger. The way his jaw set and emerald eyes darkened was a little unnerving. It didn't take long for him to regain his original demeanour, and he smiled, "I tell you what, Mrs Shiba – I've got something for you." He dug his hand into his pocket and stopped them both from walking, "You need to close your eyes though, or it won't be a surprise."

Unimpressed, she just stared at him, blankly.

"Go on," he smirked, inclining his head forwards, "Close them."

Deliberating for a moment, she finally decided to close her eyes, just to humour him. However, she waited for him to tell her to open her eyes, but instead, all she felt was something slightly cold and firm press against her lips. In surprise, she opened her eyes, taking in the sight of his closed eyelids only millimetres away from her. He urged her lips to part, but she pulled away, hurriedly, "What are you...?"

Kaien just smirked again and took a step back, placing his hands confidently into his trouser pockets, "Oh, come now; don't look so shocked. You've had that coming to you all evening."

All that left her lips was a quiet stutter of confusion. Kaien had just... kissed her?

But why?

"Look, I saw you pretend _not _to check me out when really you couldn't keep your pretty little eyes off me." He laughed, evidently more amused at the situation than Rukia was, "Anyway, I'd best get you back – or you'd best get me back. After all, you're supposed to be the one taking _me _on the tour..."

A little dazed, she just nodded and turned on her heel, not bothering to wait for him to catch up.

She could hardly stand to hear him talk any longer, so she began to block him out, and it was successful up until the point when he brought up her boss' name again. Why was it she seemed to suddenly tune in every time he was mentioned?

Though, she noticed it was only a name spoken in passing, she found her thoughts wandering back to his private office where she had sat, almost too furious for words.

What was it about him that got her so riled up? He could have said anything and it still would have angered her.

Maybe it was that smug little smirk he wore every time he caught her reacting; or perhaps it was the fact he didn't even bother to look at her.

Why was that?

He was a man surrounded by mystery.

"Hey, isn't it this one, Mrs Shiba?"

She swore if he called her Mrs Shiba one more time, she would personally see to it that his balls would be kicked so far up inside himself that he'd spit them out his big mouth.

That big mouth that had kissed her lips...!

"Rukia?" He had stopped walking and was currently pointing to her house, which she seemed to have sailed past, totally lost in thought about...

The asshole – and not the one looking at her right then, either...

"Oh, I must have forgotten." She dead-panned, changing direction and heading back inside the house where she found her brother standing tersely by the sink, washing up the pots.

"Well, it's been a wonderful evening, Mr K. Thank you for the excellent meal, entertainment and company. I hope I'll see you soon. Of course, I'll be seeing you on Friday, darling wife, will I not?"

She nodded, mutely.

Providing, of course, she hadn't jumped off a bridge prior to that...

Placing down his rubber gloves, Byakuya turned to face Kaien, a polite smile fixed onto his lips. Clearly he couldn't take much more of his company, either.

"Anytime." He forced, bowing his head, discreetly, in the direction of the door, "Allow me to see you out. Rukia, if you would just finish the pots here, I'd be grateful."

Thankful for the opportunity to get out of Kaien's sight, Rukia responded, perhaps a little too brightly, "Of course!"

She busied herself at the counter and barely even heard Kaien's farewell over the sloshing of the soapy water.

It was only when she put away the final couple of dishes that she noticed Byakuya standing behind her, his arms folded.

Leaning back against the counter, she raised her eyebrows, "What did he say?"

"He said... a lot of things... naturally..." Exhaling, softly, Byakuya massaged his temples, "Well, apparently, thanks to you, Rukia, I will finally be out of debt soon... Of course... Kaien has his eye set on you. But... I don't want to put this pressure on you."

Rukia stared at her brother.

She could see he was torn between getting them both out of debt, and trying to protect her virtue. By the looks of things, Kaien had made it clear Rukia held his utmost interest.

"It's not a pressure." She shrugged, easily. She looked at everything her brother had done for her and decided he needed this. Maybe she'd just play along with Kaien's little game until all the money had been paid back.

"So... you like him?" Byakuya asked, uncertainly.

Rukia hung the tea towel onto the peg and just smiled, softly, "Not yet. But... who knows? Maybe he's a good guy under it all."

"No." He shook his head, firmly, "I'm not having you bend to his will if you do not even like him, Rukia."

Well, maybe they didn't have a choice.

"Well, it's late and I'm very tired. I have an early start tomorrow. I'd better get some rest." She feigned a yawn – which then, of course, turned into a real yawn – and moved towards the door.

"Don't put yourself into anything you're not comfortable with." Byakuya told her, his voice a little strained.

She knew this all depended on her.

"Goodnight." She replied, heading up the stairs to bed.

Maybe Kaien was agreeable under his half-mental façade.

Or... maybe he wasn't.

Either way, she had to do something to help her brother out, right?

After all, he'd done so much for her. The least she could do was put up with Kaien until the debt had been paid off – then perhaps they could find an excuse to leave the city.

Again.

…

His fingers drummed agitatedly against his desk.

Where the hell was she?

07:56.

Glaring at his watch beneath the fringe of neon orange, Mr Kurosaki pushed back in his seat, kicking his feet up onto the hard wood. It was time for his coffee.

How did anybody expect him to get through the morning without caffeine?

07:57.

The second his watch changed, a purposeful knock rapped upon his office door.

Replying with a low grunt, he watched the door open and his personal assistant crept in, that familiarly unnatural beam plastered on her lips, "Sir, can I get you your coffee?"

Why did she even have to ask that? She knew he always wanted a coffee at this time!

He did not react straight away.

Yes, he wanted his coffee and bagel... but he also wanted to see his new recruit.

"And Kuchiki. Get me my coffee, bagel and Kuchiki." He instructed, lowly, much to the surprise of Orihime.

Her brow creased, but her smile widened – if that was at all possible, "Sir? Um, don't you usually prefer me to go over procedures with new employees?"

"Coffee, bagel and Kuchiki." He repeated, his tone hardening, "Don't make me reiterate myself again."

Orihime didn't need telling another time. Almost bowing until her nose brushed the floor, she swept from the room, worry gnawing away at her insides.

She had upset him, she had upset him! Oh, she had let not only him down, but herself – of course he was the most important individual out of them both... She busied herself fetching his coffee and bagel when Miss Rukia Kuchiki herself arrived, her cheeks a little pinched from the chilled morning air.

"Rukia, um, Mr Kurosaki needs to see you." She told her, obviously a little flustered – as per usual... apparently if you weren't flustered, you weren't working hard enough.

Rukia could feel every eye in the block on her in that moment and she fixed her gaze on his bronze nameplate nailed to the door, obediently following Orihime to his private office.

As the door opened, she could see him spinning his pen around his fingertips again, his feet resting comfortably on the desk.

Orihime hovered close by for a moment, before Mr Kurosaki raised his little finger and she nodded, bowed and left.

It was a ridiculous routine, Rukia thought to herself, refraining from rolling her eyes as she stood before her boss' desk.

Lazily, he lowered his feet to the floor and pushed his head forwards, pointedly keeping his eyes concealed like he had the previous day. Inclining his head to the vacant seat opposite his desk, he watched Rukia perch herself on the edge of the chair, attempting to remain utterly focussed.

"You're not smiling today." He commented, twisting his damned pen around his fingers.

"Well, you didn't seem to appreciate my smiles yesterday."

He sniffed and rested one hand on his chair arm, "Because they were fake. No matter, I suppose I'll get a real one from you soon enough."

Seriously... what was this guy's deal?! Deciding that it was best not to reply, the raven-haired girl just placed her hands daintily in her lap.

Continuing on, Mr Kurosaki pulled out a small manual and dropped it in front of her, "Before I unleash my personal assistant on you to run through all the shit, I need you to have a quick flick through that."

His concealed eyes landed on her delicate frame as she reached forwards, taking the manual in her slender fingers and carefully opening it to view the contents.

He didn't move his eyes from hers for a second, but his scowl loosened as he noticed her gaze flicker to his just for the fraction of a second.

She couldn't help it.

He was so direct and intense even when his eyes were covered. She half dreaded to think how red her face must have been painted if she could see his gaze, and not only feel it.

That was something she seemed to have noticed.

Every time his eyes stared at her, she began to feel hot and bothered.

Not just a… pleasantly warm sensation, but an uncomfortable feeling of being suffocated.

Desperately trying to ignore this fact, she attempted to study the notes recorded in her manual about quality of work, editing, and all the rest of the crap she already knew.

He seemed to sense the second she had started pretending to read and he held out his hand, expectantly, "Number."

Tilting her head to one side, she placed the manual back on the table, "Excuse me?"

Letting loose a soft sigh, he expanded, a little louder than usual, "Your number. Now."

Smirking, she pulled out a pen from her bag, "Well, that didn't take long."

He remained silent.

This man really needed to lighten up.

Allowing her own mask to slide over her features again as he handed her a small slip of paper, she pursed her lips. Scribbling down her number, she noted to herself that Orihime wasn't kidding when she said the boss didn't say very much...

Personally she found this a little odd considering he was in charge of one of the biggest sects of a major writing company in Japan. Gently pushing the paper back across the desk towards him with two, slim fingers, Rukia crossed her legs, wondering just what this man's deal was.

There was a reason he was the way he was... surely.

An incident when he was younger?

A traumatic accident recently?

There had to be _some _reason.

"You're easier to read than you think you are, Miss Kuchiki." His voice was so soft, she wasn't sure he'd even spoken.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, angling her head forwards, ever so slightly.

The only muscles he appeared to move were in his mouth – and he'd even stopped spinning the pen – as he replied, his tones still subdued, "You heard me perfectly well."

"Allow me to rephrase..." She rested her fingertips primly beneath her chin, "... What do you mean by that?"

"Seeing as though my statement was relatively self-explanatory, I think you may need to rephrase one more time."

Was he... mocking her?

Of course not. He had a similar level of humour in him as a prune...

Remaining utterly straight-faced, Rukia decided to test his limits... He was certainly testing hers.

But if only she could just get a glimpse of his eyes, she felt she would surely be able to know the full extent of his 'humour'… and everything else he concealed.

Right now, her opinion of him was a cold-hearted, stuck up idiot. Just the same as every other boss... only... a little more openly rude than the others.

"Seeing as though you're the boss, I assume you aren't too academically challenged to read between the lines and extract my real question without me seeming too direct and confrontational." She answered, coolly.

Barely even skipping a beat, he responded, just as easily, "On the contrary, Miss Kuchiki, I was rather hoping you would be willing to prove to me that _you _aren't academically challenged and find it within yourself to rearrange your own question. You see, I don't approve of laziness. I formed a direct statement. The least you can do is return it with a direct question."

A little shocked at his response, Rukia considered her possible reaction. She could have continued on with this possible mock or possible serious banter – or she could have just appealed to his better nature and bowed down to his quick wit.

Like hell she'd ever do the latter.

Rukia was never one to come across as submissive. Tapping her fingers lightly against her jaw, she tilted her head to the side, "Perhaps you only _think _you can read me."

Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and folded his arms, "No... I know without a shadow of a doubt that I can read you. For example, from having only one brief conversation with you, I already counted on you not being one to give up that easily to somebody you particularly despise. I also knew you would skirt around doing what I asked of you because you're proud." Picking his pen back up to resume his favourite pastime, he continued, "The little I know of your brother is that he too comes across as being arrogant. Not that I've met him, but I doubt there is anybody in the publishing industry that doesn't know who he is."

Bristling a little, Rukia narrowed her violet eyes, "You have no idea about my brother."

Scoffing at her reaction, Mr Kurosaki shook his head, "Of course I don't, fool. Let me finish. Although he portrays himself to be arrogant and uncaring, I know he has a story. The exact same applies to you. Though I'm not entirely sure what this story is, I'm determined to find it out one way or another. But your writing… that is entirely different. I see passion in every word."

Rukia wasn't entirely sure what to say, but instead of replying, she just glared furiously at her boss.

A small smirk played at the corners of his lips and he spoke, shattering the silence, "See, I knew saying that would break your mask. Anyway, get up off your rear and do some work." He pushed a sheet of paper towards her, "Here's a mock article question for you to answer so I can see your strengths and weaknesses for myself. So, go on. Get to it."

There went his little finger.

Setting her jaw, she snatched up the paper and span around to stride out his office. The second she left, she could feel her body temperature decrease rapidly as she knew his eyes were no longer on her. Orihime was standing apprehensively outside the door and upon seeing the new employee, she pointed quickly towards a vacant seat, "Okay, so you'll be sitting next to Rangiku Matsumoto. Don't mind her; she just gets easily distracted…" Leading her to her designated chair, Orihime bowed her head, "If you need anything, just let me know, Rukia."

In a (slightly failed) attempt to smile warmly at the personal assistant, Rukia nodded her head, "Thank you, Orihime, I will."

As Miss Inoue bustled away to attend to the needs of her beloved boss, Rukia glanced to her left and took in the appearance of Rangiku Matsumoto.

She had long, blonde-auburn hair curling down her back, and oh – it was definitely something about this town – she had the largest breasts Rukia had ever seen.

Good heavens...

And she was about to discover the manner of which Rangiku got distracted…

Rukia watched her lean back in her chair and stick the end of her pen into her mouth. Locking gazes with one of the men across the room, she began to twirl the pen a little suggestively around her tongue, before suddenly recognising a new, unfamiliar presence beside her. Breaking away from her little... eye conversation... Rangiku turned to face Rukia, the pen still sticking comically out of her mouth, "Oh, hey, newbie!" She made a valiant effort to speak around the item of stationary before a hand reached around her from the other side and plucked it out of her mouth.

"Yumichika!" She scolded, turning to glare at a... man(?) with shoulder length black hair, and obscure feathers protruding from one eyebrow. Of course, she assumed it was a male, as he returned his attention back to the computer in front of him.

"It's rude to talk with your mouth full." He told her, haughtily, tapping away at his keyboard.

"Look, I'm sure your mouth has been just as full as mine before..." She rolled her grey eyes at him and turned back around to Rukia, her expression softening, "Sorry about him. He's... an idiot."

"I am not!" He interjected with that same air of superiority, and not moving his eyes from the screen.

Not entirely sure how to react, Miss Kuchiki just smiled, "Well, it's nice to meet you both... I think."

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet _me._" Rangiku extended her hand and Rukia shook it politely before releasing it again, "Though..." Rangiku leaned forwards and placed a hand confidentially around her mouth, practically shoving Rukia off her chair with her sizeable bosom, whispering, "...it's not such a pleasure to meet Yumichika over here..."

"I'm not deaf..." He shoved Rangiku's arm, annoyed, "Besides, I'm sure she doesn't appreciate being smothered by those two ridiculous lumps on your chest."

"You mean boobs, Yumichika! Most males would adore me for these babies! At least, most _normal _ones!"

"Both of you, button it." A shiny, bald head revealed itself on the other side of Yumichika and a pair of angry eyes landed on the squabbling pair.

"Oh, look who decided to join in the conversation the second he heard the word 'boobs'!" Rangiku exclaimed, rolling her eyes, "_There's _a big surprise."

The bald headed man narrowed his eyes, "Rangiku, shut your mouth."

"He started it." She pointed to Yumichika who twitched his lip irritably.

"Liar. You started it. Who are you really going to believe, Ikkaku?"

"I don't care who started it, but I'm going to finish it unless you both shut the hell up!"

Rangiku huffed and turned back to Rukia, "Don't mind baldy; he's just a little highly-strung..."

The latter could feel a small smile grace her lips and she shrugged, "I think everybody can be at times. Especially in this place."

A hand pointed over the heads of Rangiku and Yumichika to Rukia and the voice of the bald one spoke, "I like her already."

"Well, I got to her first." Matsumoto replied, indignantly, "Anyway, so, I see you finally met the slave-driver."

Rukia creased her eyebrows, "I assume you're referring to Mr Kurosaki?"

Tossing her ringlets over her shoulder, Rangiku rolled her eyes, dramatically, "Who else? You looked pretty pissed when you first arrived here…"

Good point.

"Is he always like that?" Rukia asked, raising her eyebrows.

Rangiku laughed, "What, do you mean difficult to approach and very silently demanding? Yes. You'll get used to it."

Difficult to approach? Yes. Demanding? Yes. Silent? No... "Well, mostly, but he talked quite a lot. Doesn't he usually?" Though she knew he didn't speak much to Orihime, she assumed he would to the rest of his workers.

Yumichika laughed, loudly, "The words 'Kurosaki' and 'talk' do not fit into the same sentence. His favourite words are: 'Get' and 'out'. But even then, he doesn't usually say that, he just does this with his finger." Yumichika imitated Kurosaki's trademark little-finger-twitch and laughed before turning back to his screen.

"Yes, I had noticed that…" Rukia admitted, deciding it was probably time to get on with her work. She faced the screen and raised her eyebrows, "How do I log onto this?"

"Hm?" Rangiku tore her eyes away from another male she happened to be silently conversing with and creased her brow, "Isn't it in your manual?"

"Manual?" She repeated, her confusion increasing.

"Yeah, the slave-driver _did_ give it to you, didn't he?"

Frowning, Rukia recalled the manual he had given her, but she had returned it, believing it was just another pointless piece of crap, "I… forgot to bring it with me."

Rangiku gave a reassuring smile, which funnily enough wasn't very reassuring, and gestured her head towards his office, "You'd better go get it. I think Orihime's gone downstairs."

"Right." She nodded, confidently standing up and making her way towards his office, regaining her straight-backed posture again. Knocking lightly on the door, she awaited a response.

"Kuchiki, is it?" The quiet, yet firm voice of her boss spoke from behind the door and she sighed. How did he know?

"Yes, Sir." She replied, much calmer than she'd expected. However, when he didn't speak again, she exhaled, attempting to remain patient, "May I come in, Sir?"

A slight grunt of consent sounded in reply and she refrained from rolling her eyes as she pushed down on the door handle, stepping through into his office.

"Forget something?" He asked, a small hint of a smirk playing at his lips as he leaned back in his black, leather chair, spinning that ridiculous pencil round his fingertips.

Nodding curtly as her eyes pinpointed the manual sitting just beside his hand on the desk, she made her way towards it, determined not to look at him at all.

She could feel his intense stare on her skin as she reached out to pick it up, half expecting him to leap from his seat and grab her or something totally unpredictable like that. But… if she predicted it, then immediately, it would become predictable.

Oh, he made her head hurt…

But, of course, he did do the unpredictable. He just sat silently, watching her take the manual up in her fingers, deciding she'd find out where her username and password was when she was safely out of this man's gaze.

"I knew you didn't read it properly." He interrupted the silence, unexpectedly, and continued, "For a start... you need to take the manual with you... and at the front it has your username and password... Get your head in the game, Kuchiki. Get your mock article done and bring it me by the end of the day. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." She replied, coolly.

Tilting his head to one side, he opened his mouth to speak, softly, "I wouldn't call it a tip, but rather a rule: don't use cliché phrases. Especially crystal clear. It irritates me." He sighed and sat up straight, his perfectly defined jaw set, "Clear?"

"As clear as your window." She bowed her head so respectfully that she could have given even Miss Orihime Inoue a run for her money, before turning on her heel to exit the office, smoothly.

He could only assume that of course, the more polite she acted, the more pissed she was.

Smirking, he turned to stare out the window – or rather stare at the dust and bird crap coating the dull glass.

Oh.

Kudos, Kuchiki… Kudos.

…

Why was it that Rangiku had a job in the office, again?

All she seemed to be doing for the whole day was lazily glancing about the room, making eye contact with random men and mouthing words that Rukia didn't think such an accomplished woman should be using – especially in public.

"Hey, Rukia…" She was currently twirling a pen between her straight, white teeth as she dipped her head around to face the new employee.

Finishing typing up her final sentence, Rukia tore her violet eyes away from the screen and leaned one elbow lightly on the chair arm, "Mm?"

"Do you ever take a break?" She asked, curiously, to which Rukia laughed, softly.

"Well, I'm here to work. I'm sure I will get a break when I've finished."

"Maybe you should take a leaf out of her book and get some work done, Rangiku, instead of flashing your tits around the whole office – we all know you have them. There's no need to show off!"

"Guys, be quiet." Ikkaku interrupted.

"There he goes again - joining in our conversation as soon as breasts are brought up!"

A male from somewhere across the room yelled, a little too passionately, "Of course she should show off if she wants to! You can show them off to me whenever you want to, Rangiku!"

Peeping over her monitor at the man who had interjected, she stared at him for a prolonged moment before shaking her head, slowly, "Another time... maybe…"

"Not your style?" Rukia asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh, he was once, but he wasn't what I was hoping him to be in bed. I was quite disappointed. I didn't even hit climax!" She exclaimed, clearly offended at the traumatic memory.

"Oh, how… awful." Her response may have sounded slightly forced, but she wasn't particularly familiar with hearing people speak so openly about their sex life. Especially people who had known you for only five and a half hours…

But this Karakura town seemed to be totally different to all other cities she'd been in. In a way, she liked the openness.

"So, what's your favourite position?"

Okay, no, she lied.

She didn't like the openness, after all.

Turning away from Rangiku, Rukia tried to focus her eyes back on her work, pretending she didn't hear what the woman had just asked her.

"What's the matter? Don't play coy, girl!" She nudged Rukia's elbow, playfully, "It's totally handcuffed missionary, isn't it?"

"How did you guess?" She muttered, sarcastically, to which Rangiku burst out laughing.

"I was right? Oh, I knew I was good, but not _that _good! But, something about you screams out bondage, somehow." She mused, thoughtfully, "But, admittedly, bondage can be quite fun at times."

Staring at Rangiku through incredulous eyes, Rukia uttered a quiet laugh, "I see."

Yumichika glanced over at the two girls, his expression stating clearly that he did not want to hear the conversation progress any further, "Please… Some of us are trying to work here."

"Sorry, Yumi."

"Don't call me Yumi. Only people I like can call me Yumi." He returned, moodily.

"Does that mean Rukia gets to call you Yumi?" She asked, creasing her eyebrows, "Because that's totally not fair. I've known you longer."

"So what? I like her better than you – and yes, she can call me Yumi whenever she likes." He sent Rangiku a smug grin and turned his attention to Rukia, "Because I don't get on well with sluts, you see." He explained, matter-of-factly followed by a snort from Rangiku.

"That would explain why you don't get along with yourself, then, wouldn't it?" She rolled her eyes dramatically and Yumichika sat up considerably straighter.

"I beg your pardon! Who was it who got caught by Orihime fucking the life out of the editor from floor 3 on her office desk?!" He hissed, passionately, "Because it certainly was _not _me!"

Rangiku didn't even bother looking ashamed; instead, she just laughed merrily, "You're just jealous because I go to him first!"

Yumichika glared furiously at her and clenched his fist, "You're impossible, Rangiku! He isn't even my type!"

"Just in case you didn't notice," Rangiku turned to Rukia and murmured, "Yummy Yumi is gay if you didn't already notice and he doesn't like me because all the sexy guys choose me and not him."

Rukia wasn't too sure that Yumichika could have looked any more livid as his cheeks were burning bright and the strange feathers fluttering madly above his narrowed eyes, "_Do not call me Yummy Yumi_!" He spat, "And that is not why I don't like you! I don't like you because you're a cow!"

"Oh, _I'm _a cow?! How dare you?"

This was getting a little too intense for Rukia and she sat back from the two, "Okay, well, I think we'd best just get on with some work before somebody gets hurt…"

"Couldn't agree more!"

"Excellent idea!"

Rukia laughed quietly to herself as her two new colleagues both fixed their attention on their computer screens, still silently fuming.

Okay, maybe this job wasn't turning out to be such a bad idea after all…

…

On her way home, Rukia decided she'd take a small detour trip to town. For one, she could do with the walk and for two, she also wanted to familiarise herself with the possible sort of areas she may be visiting with Kaien that Friday.

And also where the nearest police station may be… just in case.

As she strode purposefully through the square, her violet eyes pinpointed a small, cute looking store bathed in pale pink. But what really stood out to her the most was the fact that an adorable image of a rabbit printed on the window was staring right at her.

Chappy!

Oh, there is a God!

It was a pity she didn't have much money on her, but she would memorise the _exact_ location of that shop so she knew in future where to visit. Whether Kaien liked it or not, he would be taking her there. She moved brusquely towards the store and leaned closer to the window, an absent smile on her lips.

"Rukia? Is that… you?"

Who could possibly know her in this town?

Tearing her eyes away from the window, she turned and saw a petite woman, such as herself, with soft brown hair pulled elegantly up into a bun.

"Momo?" Rukia tilted her head to one side, in shock, "What are… what are you doing here?" She asked, incredulously, "I haven't seen you in four years!"

"I know!" Momo laughed and shook her head, "Trust me to find you loitering around outside the Chappy store… Hey, are you busy? We could go get a coffee if you're not?" She suggested, to which Rukia nodded, smiling.

Fortunately, the closest coffee shop was about ten yards away, and once they'd ordered and sat down in a corner on two wonderfully squishy chairs, Rukia looked over in interest at her friend, "So, what are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you were moving to Europe."

She shrugged and nodded, "That was the original plan. But… you know… Kaito went into one of his moods and cancelled the whole thing! I suppose it was a good job really, because then he got offered a job in Karakura. So, he took it and we're actually doing pretty well."

Rukia nodded, giving an appropriate roll of her eyes, "I guess it's not too bad then."

"No. But hey, remember Toshiro? Toshiro Hitsugaya?"

Rukia nodded.

Yes, she remembered Momo's ex-boyfriend very well… He was hard to forget with his bright white hair and electric blue eyes.

"Well, he's living in Karakura too. He has a daughter and is now settled down with some girl." Momo informed her, raising her eyebrows.

"Really?" Rukia asked, "Wow. Which reminds me… How's your Hikaru doing?"

"He's doing great! He's six now! Except, I've had to get a baby-sitter because both me and Kaito have to work and we're out all the time, but the baby-sitter is terrible! She's nice enough, but I don't think 'Karu likes her very much. See, we both only have Sundays off." Momo explained, "And so we get the baby-sitter to take him to this music club on Saturdays and I think he's really quite enjoying it. When I got home last Saturday, the first thing he said to me was: My girlfriend gave me a kiss today, Mummy!"

Rukia laughed, lightly, "It certainly sounds like he has your charm. But listen, if you wanted me to help out in any way, I am free on Saturdays and on some afternoons depending on when I get my work finished – it'd be no problem for me to pick him up on some days."

Momo's expression softened and she smiled, "Really? You would do that? Because… the baby-sitter… she's always late picking him up from school, and she charges a lot of money."

"Like I said, it'd be no problem."

"You are a star, Rukia. Anyway, how have you been? What's been going on in your life? Any guys? Drama? Work?"

Rukia glanced into her cup and laughed inwardly, "All of the above…" She briefly explained, skipping out minor details, about Kaien and that he was taking her on a date this Friday, to which Momo became very interested.

"Oh, really? Is he hot?"

She shrugged, in reply, "He's…" …Nothing compared to Mr Kurosaki…

Not that she had compared them of course…

But, moving on…

"He's what?" Momo prompted, sipping at her hot drink, surveying Rukia, attentively.

"He's not bad. Green eyes, black hair, tall… Very… confident."

"Yeah? Oh, tell me about it… Is he good in bed?"

"Momo!" Rukia rolled her eyes and let loose a laugh, "Something I don't want to think about right now…"

As the two young ladies swapped stories back and forth until their coffees had gone cold, Rukia felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

Pulling it out, she saw Byakuya's caller ID pop up on the screen, "Hello? She quickly answered and held her phone to her ear.

"_Rukia, when are you coming home? Kaien's just called round. He wanted to see you._"

"What? Is he still there? If so, I'm unavailable and will be until Friday." She replied, closing her eyes, briefly.

"_No, he's gone now. But, yes, the thing is__, he said he wants to see you on Thursday as well._"

"I'm unavailable." She repeated, beginning to stand up.

Byakuya exhaled, "_Yes, I thought that might be the __case, so I told him the two of us__ were going shopping._"

"You told him _what_?" This was getting worse and worse.

"…_And he wanted to come along._"

Closing her eyes in aggravation, Rukia glanced at Momo and mouthed, "Want me to babysit this Thursday afternoon and evening?"

She nodded, her eyebrows creasing, "That would be great."

"Well, the thing is, Byakuya," She returned her attention back to her phone, "I'm actually babysitting this Thursday, so I can't make it. I'm sorry. I really am unavailable."

"_How fortunate that you can make last second plans and leave me to go on a shopping trip with him al__one._"

"I would apologise, but I don't feel particularly sorry." She replied, evenly.

"_I didn't think you would be…_" Byakuya sighed, "_Well_, _I suppose I'll have to tell him._"

"Yes, that's right, because there's no way I'm going shopping with you both. Where did that even come from?" She was a little shocked at her brother's uncharacteristic lack of tact.

"_I panicked_." He replied, simply.

Oh, good heavens… If Byakuya panicked, it must have been serious…

"Right. Well, I'll be home soon anyway. See you soon." She hung up and passed her phone onto Momo, "Put your number in there so we can sort everything out, alright?"

She complied and handed Rukia's phone back to her, "Sounds intense. Well, I'm really glad you can babysit actually."

Rukia nodded, and gave a small smile, "Well, it'll be nice to see him again. Anyway, I'd better be off. I'll call you on Wednesday night, or something, okay?"

"Yeah, that's great." They wandered towards the exit and Momo pulled Rukia into a hug before releasing her, "Take care."

"Yeah… yeah, you too." Rukia smiled and turned to head home, sighing inwardly.

Though, if she'd have seen the work load that her… wonderful new boss was going to be giving her the day after she babysat for little Hikaru… that sigh would have been amplified… by about one hundred and twenty decibels.

And as irritating as his mannerisms were, they were also impossible to refuse.

Consequently, on Thursday evening (or more accurately, early Friday morning…) she found herself grinding her teeth furiously at the computer screen. She had rather hoped to have a week to complete this assignment, but unfortunately, _he _had other ideas.

"_A week?" _He had said to her_, "What are you? In school? Get this done by tomorrow."_

"Oh, Kurosaki," She hissed, tapping her fingers angrily on the keyboard, "you will be the death of me…"


	3. Coffee

**Thank you to kissonthechic, ****Akskdididj, star133, Phoebe, MugetsuIchigo, Hallie-Clancy, annia9semi, lonely flame and the unnamed guest reviewer. Loved reading your thoughts and they were really helpful.**

It wasn't that she was unfamiliar with working until the early hours of the morning, because she most definitely was familiar with it…

Growing up with Byakuya as a brother aided the notion that 'deadlines must be met even if it kills you'.

Then, he would usually add 'it is called a "dead-line" for a reason'.

Probably his idea of a joke.

But at half past three in a morning, understandably, Rukia didn't think it was very funny.

She wasn't entirely sure where the motivation to complete her essay came from considering she felt intensely grumpy the whole time doing it.

All she knew is that the thought of slamming down that paper on his desk in front of his stupidly attractive face the next morning, purely just to see his reaction, would bring her _almost _as much satisfaction as she could get if she slapped him.

Okay… total exaggeration.

Nothing would ever bring her as much satisfaction, than to slap his ridiculously handsome face.

But, come the next morning, she was waiting nice and early at her desk so she could hand it in as soon as he arrived.

Feeling her patience tick along with the clock, it was plausible that after three hours and fifty seven minutes of waiting, her good mood was deteriorating.

Rapidly.

"Hey, Rukia, why aren't you working?" Rangiku asked, tapping her pencil lazily against her desk, "You haven't touched your keyboard once this morning. You're slacking!"

"The only time I saw _you _touching your keyboard, Rangiku, was when you were sending a dirty email to one of the editors downstairs..." Yumichika muttered, sarcastically.

Rukia barely turned her head.

"Hey, is something bothering you?" Rangiku leaned forwards, ignoring Yumichika and her face sobering up.

"What? No, I'm just waiting for Kurosaki to show up so I can hand in my essay. For goodness sake, I wouldn't have stayed up so late if I'd have known I'd have an extra four hours to finish it." She let loose a stressful sigh and _almost _rolled her eyes.

But that would only draw attention to the fact that she was mildly – okay, _very _– unhappy… and the last thing she wanted was to explain just how hard she'd been working. She really wasn't in the mood for pity right then. At all.

Sensing that she really wasn't in the right frame of mind to keep a fluid conversation running, both Yumi and Rangiku turned back to their computers and kept quiet.

However, just after lunch break had ended, the main door opened and the man himself strode into the room, clutching his rucksack. Quickly heading straight into his office, he slammed the door behind him causing the tinted windows to tremble.

Rukia sighed and crossed her legs.

She had better wait a few more moments to give him chance to cool down…

Or give herself a chance to cool down… or something.

Her eyes pinpointed on Orihime who was fluttering apprehensively outside his door, debating on whether or not to knock.

Oh, the suspense was killing her.

Hurry up and knock, Miss Inoue, some people have assignments to hand in!

Finally, the ginger-haired woman decided to tap quietly on the door and await the response, which came sooner than expected.

The most Rukia could do now, was wait until her new boss was treated with his routine coffee and bagel…

…

He glared at the door.

Prior to the glaring, there had been an angry knock upon that very same door.

Well, three guesses who.

The visitor breached the strict rule of _waiting _to be invited in – or be grunted at – and strode in through the door, "I finished the paper, Kurosaki."

The delicate, yet evidently harassed employee slammed her paper down on the desk in front of him and exhaled, attempting to compose herself.

Wow… what had gotten her so worked up? But, he wasn't in the best of moods that day, anyway, and tormenting Miss Kuchiki seemed to be the only thing that presented him with any satisfaction at all.

He remained completely still, acting as if she'd never spoken.

Just to piss her off even more.

"You know what? You can forget it! You didn't even check my last paper! You tell me I have to hand this one in as soon as I see you today! Then you don't even bother turning up! Does anything register in your orange head?!" He could tell she'd regretted saying that last part, but at the same time, he could also tell she didn't care.

The glint in her eye told him everything he needed to know: He had been pushing her, bending her and almost breaking her over the past week – and there was clearly only so much of that she could take.

Leaning forwards, he lazily picked up the paper and scanned through it. After a moment, he stood up and moved to position himself at the front of the desk where she was standing, "First of all, you will knock before entering my office. Second of all, you will address me as '_Mr _Kurosaki' or 'Sir'. Thirdly, I never specified what time I would be in today; you only assumed I would be here in the early morning – and imagine this next part in brackets," He turned to face her and watched her struggle to _not _take another step back, "For your information, Miss Kuchiki, I have already read your paper. It is sitting on your desk… but you were probably so pressed with more important obligations, such as being angry, that you didn't notice it – close bracket. But if you don't stick to my house rules, then I'm afraid I won't stick to yours."

She rolled her eyes and let loose a tetchy sigh before stopping herself short.

"House rules?" She repeated, fixing her vibrant eyes on him, "I don't have any house rules…" She informed him, irritably.

Raising his eyebrows beneath his fringe – not that she could see – he took a step towards her, "Oh, you don't?"

The way she stood before him, strikingly frightening but oh-so furiously sexy, was almost beyond even his self-control and he just smirked at the way she hardened her glare.

She looked good angry.

_So fucking good._

"So…" He continued, "You'd be fine if I just…" He moved even closer to her and extended a hand, combing back a lock of her raven hair, to which her eyes widened dramatically.

"What are you – what on Earth do you think you're doing?" She hissed, slapping his hand away, "That is _not _a house rule! That is just impolite!" The blush painting her cheeks was far too adorable to ignore and he found himself asking the internal question: _Am I really just teasing to vent my frustration in the easiest possible way or… _

… _am I doing this because I actually want her?_

But that idea was preposterous. Mr Kurosaki didn't _want _women. He would take them if convenient, but never in his life had he ever chased one.

At least not after knowing them for seven days…

Either way, he retracted his hand and forced himself to keep the smirk on his lips, even though he wanted to do something much more productive with his lips right then…

Hushing the pervert inside him, Mr Kurosaki pulled away and moved back around his desk, "See, I thought you had house rules."

She wanted to fight back. He could see the asperity burning deep within her eyes.

She truly hated him.

Well, good. He couldn't have her falling head over heels for him, could he? After all, dual relationships were strictly discouraged.

Maybe making her hate him was the best option after all.

He couldn't have her getting attached in any way.

But keeping her at this sort of distance meant he could have small, dirty thoughts about her, without letting her take them seriously considering she would be under the impression he hated her too.

Quieting the fury within her, Rukia stiffened up and glanced away, that familiar empty expression cloaking her features once more.

"Oh, look. The mask's returned." He commented, lightly, and before she could react, he ushered her away, "Go on. You have corrections to make on your last paper. Let's hope this one is more acceptable."

He could see her refrain from rolling her tanzanite eyes as she turned on her heel and strode towards the door, "Of course, Sir." She bowed her head before sweeping from his office and back to her seat.

…

Oh, that man.

She _hated _him!

He knew exactly what words to say that would get under her skin.

Rangiku shot her a sideways glance and chewed anxiously on her lower lip, "Hey… is everything okay?" She asked, quietly.

Glancing up at her with a smile, which _almost _came naturally, Miss Kuchiki nodded, "Of course. I just need to make a few corrections on this paper and then I'm done for the weekend."

The thought of a whole free weekend to herself was enough to lift her spirits just a little.

But then, as if prompted by fate, her phone vibrated.

What she'd done to piss karma off so badly was beyond her.

Usually, she turned her phone off, but her mind was so preoccupied with other matters that she had forgotten. Pulling out her mobile, she saw a small box saying: _1 New Message – Kaien Shiba._

Oh, joy.

Opening it up, she read words she wished she had never seen and wished never to see again.

_Mrs Shiba, I do hope your ready for the ride of your life tonight. _

The first thing that irritated her was the fact that he had texted her.

This was because she had completely forgotten about the date that night.

That was enough to extinguish every emotion that was not despair or anger she was currently experiencing.

The second thing that irritated her was the fact that he'd put 'Mrs Shiba'.

That was enough to trample her motivation to move from the chair she was sitting in. Ever.

The third thing that irritated her was the fact that such an… ('accomplished' might have been a bit of as long-shot)… academic young man had actually just typed 'your'.

Unable to prevent herself before the reply had been sent, she rolled her eyes in despair as her fingers typed '*you're' and hit 'send'.

Oh, well, he'd have to deal with that.

Almost immediately, her phone vibrated again and she sighed as she read the new message.

_Thank you, wife. It's good to see you're alert and ready for tonight._

If anything, she was far from it.

Slipping her phone back into her bag, she sighed and flicked through her paper, noticing some of the pettiest things had been circled to correct.

For example, instead of putting 'change', she had to use 'modify'.

They meant exactly the same thing!

She really didn't fancy changing – or modifying – them at all, but she knew there would be hell to pay if she didn't.

Biting her tongue to prevent a curse from leaving her lips, Rukia fixed her eyes on the computer screen.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

…

Okay, give her petty corrections!

Give her an audience with Kurosaki!

Give her anything except a date with Kaien Shiba!

The issue wasn't with the date itself.

No, that was lovely. He took her out for a meal, paid for everything, let her order, took her on a walk around the town, held her hand, (literally) stole a few kisses, taken her to a bar and was now busy ordering her drinks.

The issue was with _her _date.

Kaien Shiba.

He sat beside her at the bar, grinning away at the new drunk friends he had made, "Yeah…" He mumbled, "She's going to be my wife someday…"

Judging by the lack of coherence in his words, Rukia could see it hadn't taken him long to become intoxicated by the alcohol.

She just smiled politely at the men cheering and congratulating Kaien on finding himself such an 'angel'.

Well, give her one more date of being in a room full of high-climbing testosterone levels and they would see just how far from angelic she actually was.

Rolling her eyes, she nudged him, "Perhaps it's time to head off."

He turned to her and nodded, dopily, "Of course. Anything for you, honey."

"No – the name's Rukia." She reminded him, a little tightly.

During the outing, she'd had a lot of time to think.

That was mainly due to Kaien talking a great deal about himself and his marvellous accomplishments which opened up the opportunity for Rukia to appear interested and attentive, when in actual fact she was contemplating her… well, life.

Taking into consideration that Kaien did seem rather gentlemanly, even though it was a little forced, he really did want to help her brother.

At least that's what he said.

But he also said that by helping her brother, he could get to know _her _better.

Which she wasn't too fussed about.

At all…

But, he was generous with the amounts of money he was offering, only he made sure that by the end of the night, there was no doubt whatsoever that he would be taking her on yet another date the next Friday… (And even the next evening if she wanted – which she didn't).

She concluded that she would see him occasionally to keep him motivated – but he needed her help, right?

Without her reporting back to him about the progress of Kurosaki's sect, there was no way he'd be able to take it down.

At least, that's what he told her.

"Well, Mrs Shiba, this has been a wonderful evening – you look as heavenly as ever." He told her as they pulled up outside her house in his flashy black car.

The quiet purr of the engine ceased and she nodded, glancing away, "Of course. Well, thank you for the evening – no doubt I'll be seeing you again at some point in the far-too-near future." She muttered, grudgingly.

Oh, that sort of slipped out…

But Kaien didn't seem to notice and he reached over, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles, "No doubt."

She hoped the reason he had turned off his engine was because he wanted to conserve petrol and not because he wanted to come inside…

Because the latter was definitely _not _happening.

Kaien leaned closer to her and cupped her cheek gently in his hand – a romantic gesture, but also an uncomfortable one.

There they were again.

His lips.

Her stomach heaved as she watched them approach her.

They always seemed to have a way of finding her no matter how hard she tried to avoid them.

The main thing she was grateful for was that he didn't shove his tongue down her throat…

But even as the words passed through her mind, she felt him part her lips, with gentle, but firm force.

Okay, perhaps she'd thought too soon.

Fully aware that his tongue was now (not) asking permission (but rather taking it) and dipping into her mouth, she leaned back against the leather seat, removing her hand from his and immediately placing it on the door handle, ready to roll out as soon as their kiss got too heated.

It wasn't that she was scared of kissing…

… It was just that she was scared of kissing him…

His large hand subtly slid from her knee and up her thigh.

"Kaien." She spoke his name against his lips and pulled away, "Kaien, don't do that."

"Why?" He asked, his tone playful, but his eyes hooded with lust.

"Because this is a first date." She replied, curling her fingers around the handle and gently pulling it open, "And I don't get intimate on first dates."

Reaching over and grabbing the door, he slammed it firmly shut, "Rukia…" He pleaded, "… I won't get intimate… just one more kiss…"

_You're doing this to help Byakuya…_ She told herself, sighing, "Fine." Pushing his head up to level with hers, she lightly pressed her lips to his and broke away, "There."

He opened his eyes begrudgingly, "You are determined to tease me to death." He grumbled.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

He pulled her back to his lips and caught her completely unaware.

His sudden demanding kiss reminded her an awful lot of her boss…

This would probably be how he would kiss somebody.

Just grab them and not really give them a choice.

But it was difficult to imagine him kissing anybody… except… as she kissed Kaien, she found herself – completely unintentionally – kissing Kurosaki in her mind.

It was just a stray, curious thought at first.

Until… until she began to kiss him back.

The only colour she could see behind her eyelids was a vivid orange.

It was only when she gently ran her hand through his mop of spiky hair that she realised the lips she was kissing were not Kurosaki's.

Shit.

What was she doing?

She shook her head and opened the door, pulling away from him, glad to be stepping out alive, "Goodnight." She breathed, her heart rate doubling as her hand left his black hair.

"Yeah… night. Sleep well, love." He smirked, completely under the impression that it was in fact him who provoked that unexpected reaction.

No, he did not just call her love.

Managing to wait until her front door had been closed, locked and bolted before she wiped her mouth, Rukia headed towards the cupboard.

She rarely drank.

She didn't do it on weekdays as a rule and only did it socially on outings… but it was Friday, and she needed something to sterilise her mouth after it had (bravely) put up with Kaien's lips for the evening…

…and also kissed her boss in her head!

The issue she was faced with was that she couldn't find the wine.

Oh, that would have ruined her night completely!

"Looking for something?"

Rukia turned and saw her brother standing with a bottle of wine and his own glass. He was watching her gravely as he handed over the bottle, "Please tell me it wasn't that bad, was it?" He asked, his eyes hardening.

"It wasn't bad… it was just…" She attempted to choose her words, but found that no other word other than 'bad' entered into her mind, "…I just need a drink."

He nodded, understandingly, "I needed one of those too." He admitted, "I was rather wondering what time you'd get in… I was banking on you coming in and not stopping out all night. I don't think my nerves could have taken it if you hadn't have come in when you did."

What he said wasn't particularly amusing – but the fact that a man so solemn and expressionless could imply that his nerves were almost at their end _was _amusing. She managed a laugh and poured herself out a drink, "I agree with you on that one."

"So…" He began, a little awkwardly, "… Does that mean you don't like him?"

She sighed, "He's fine in small doses. I expect I will be going on another date with him though… soon."

Byakuya nodded, "I see. Well, I'm glad that you came back in one piece." He placed down his glass and sighed, "I'll see you in the morning." He really didn't seem as though he could discuss Kaien any longer and Rukia couldn't blame him.

Because, quite frankly, neither could she.

"Yeah… see you." She smiled and leaned back against the counter as she watched her brother leave.

What was she getting herself into?

…

The few encounters she experienced with her boss that week were generally kept professional, mild-mannered and, even on occasion, civil – that was probably because neither one had spoken a word to the other.

The interactions they formed were: Knock from Rukia, grunt from Kurosaki, paper on desk from Rukia, finger raise from Kurosaki – the end.

Although he had piled heavy amounts of work onto his employees, he always seemed to find it in him to be generous enough to distribute extra assignments for Rukia.

Though she had no idea why! She only treated him the way he deserved to be treated… wasn't that the way it should be?

Regardless of what it should or shouldn't be, that wasn'tthe way it _was_.

Dick.

On Friday, after she had completed her final paper, she stood up and walked purposefully towards the door. Giving her routine 'knock', she awaited his imminent grunt.

But… perhaps it wasn't as imminent as she had believed, for instead of hearing it, she received an almost immediate response of, "Come in, Kuchiki…"

Well, how thrilling to see she was expected…

Complying, she opened the door and stepped into his office, her essay in hand. Dropping it down on his desk, she ignored how exhausted he actually looked and a faint bruise shadowing his cheekbone. Reminding herself she really couldn't care less how he acquired that, or why he was slouching in his chair instead of holding that rigid posture he usually adopted.

Oh… bless. Ordering other people around all day must have been awfully tiring.

Straightening up, she span on her heel and headed back towards the door.

Just as she was about to open the door, she heard a low murmur from behind her, "Miss Rukia Kuchiki…"

Oh, how she _despised _him when he spoke like that! Ignoring the chill that was currently crawling along her scalp, she hesitated by the door, her slender fingers resting lightly on the handle.

After a silent moment, she heard him speak again.

"You look tired." He commented, bluntly.

Aggravated, she closed her eyes, "Is that all?"

Letting loose all his evident amusement in a short, gruff laugh, he answered, "I suppose you're yet to get used to the ways of this job."

Okay.

That was it.

"You honestly believe that this is the most taxing job I've ever had to do?" She asked, a little more than just testily.

"Why… Is it?"

"Not even close." She returned, taking a measured breath.

Professionalism, Rukia… professionalism.

"Ah," he replied, interestedly, "So… what would you say was?"

Turning slowly to face him, her expression conveying clear anger, she laughed, harshly, "For a start, probably a paper round."

Fuck professionalism.

"Oh, ouch." He clasped his hands together on the desk, "Well, if that's just a start… what else is more taxing than this… highly paid, respectable, professional occupation?"

Tilting her head to one side, she replied indifferently, "Babysitting."

"Oh, is that what your babysitter said?"

She remained highly imperturbable, "Funny."

That slight smirk on his lips suggested to Rukia that he knew she wasn't in the mood for his jokes.

But that clearly just gave him all the more reason to make them.

"Did you used to babysit?" He asked, an attempt to show his feigned interest, she was sure.

"Still do."

He leaned closer to her, his slim black tie resting on the desk.

"Until two o' clock this morning – so please, forgive me for seeming a little short with you."

He leaned forwards in his chair, and answered – clearly before he could stop himself, "Don't apologise. You can't help your size."

Well, that was quite possibly the wittiest thing she'd heard all day.

Probably because she'd not listened to a word anybody else had said at all.

She took a step forwards and folded her arms lightly across her ribs, "I may regret saying this, Mr Kurosaki, _Sir_, but the most taxing part of this job is not the ridiculous amounts of work you require me to do, neither is it the long hours with limited break times. It is not sitting in front of a computer screen all day. It is you. _You _are the most taxing part of this job."

He was silent for a moment, and he nodded, "Glad that you're honest."

"No, that was me being polite." The hostile edge to her voice was enough to cause even her boss to hesitate, "You wouldn't want to hear me when I'm being honest."

His lips – the ones she had kissed in her mind – were poised carefully as if he was itching to say something else.

Well, she dared him to.

As it happened, he did the exact opposite than what she wanted.

Just for a change.

He did nothing.

"Well, unless you have any other sarcastic or incredibly witty remark to make, then I'll be going." Without another word, she bowed her head and swept from his office, silently seething.

…

She couldn't believe it! Oh! That man! He made her so… so… uptight and furious and… and… ugh! What she could really do with was a coffee!

Or maybe she was already a little too highly strung for one of those…

Sighing as she entered the closest coffee shop she could find, Rukia suddenly became aware that the heat she felt raging through her body was climbing higher and higher.

The dramatic change in temperature provoked a deep blush to blossom on her once pale cheeks and she just had to unfasten a couple of buttons on her coat...

"Hey, beautiful. Is that blush because of me?" The man leaning casually against the counter allowed his eyes to roam the young lady before him, "I mean… it's a little early to be undressing already, but hey, I can adapt to that."

Usually, she could deal with irritating comments such as this from arrogant young men, but she really wasn't in the mood to be entertaining morons. The way her cheeks burned half persuaded her to buy an iced tea, but she remembered the date she had with Kaien that night… and to tell the truth… she was fairly sure she needed to stay alert just in case he 'tried it on' with her again…

Gods above, she didn't think she could cope with that again… especially when –

Note to self: Do not start picturing self making out with boss… particularly in public.

Or just ever.

"Cappuccino, please." She muttered, hurriedly, pushing the images from her misbehaving mind.

"Is that it?" He asked, pointedly scanning her appearance once more, "Or can I get you anything else… you know… such as a boyfriend?"

"No, thank you. Just a cappuccino." She replied, stiffly, pulling out her purse and rifling through it to find the correct amount of cash.

"…Because, I'm not just good for serving coffee, you know. I can serve a lot more…" He winked in an attempt at being flirtatiously charismatic, but Rukia just found it rather irritatingly off-putting… Perhaps she should have been flattered considering he was rather good-looking and confident and all the rest of it... But she just wasn't in the mood… at all. In fact, if he said one more thing, she would –

"–You know, you don't talk much." He grumbled, rolling his eyes, "If I can't get you a boyfriend, what about my number?" His hand crept towards hers and her violet eyes flashed angrily at him.

For one, he was really starting to piss her off.

For another, she didn't have the correct cash, and there wasn't a card machine in sight.

Growling, she was about to turn away before she could feel his fingers clasp around her wrist, "Look, you're going to have to answer me sooner or later." He quirked an eyebrow at her, suggestively, almost daring her to leave.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you from a country that makes it okay to invade other people's personal space?" She hissed, hotly.

"Only your personal space, Miss."

A small, sweet smile plastered itself on her lips and she locked his eyes with hers, "Oh, really? How flattering…" Just as his ego was about to swell considerably more, she added, her tone heavily laced with sugar, "But… Keep on invading it, and I'll snap your hand off."

"Mm?"

He didn't appear to be listening.

Okay, her hand was readying itself to slap him harshly across the face before a hot shudder rippled down her spine. At the same time as experiencing this curious sensation, five fingers reached out from behind her and snatched the man's hand from her wrist, "Are you deaf or something? Get your hands off the lady and serve her the coffee."

Ah… that would be why her body was malfunctioning…

All the same, he had no right to interfere.

That was her fight and she was about to win it.

"Hey, chill out man." The man guffawed, not relenting Rukia's wrist, "I'm just being friendly. Now if you'll wait your turn…"

The soft, mellow voice behind her spoke quietly, "Right now, I'm just being friendly too. So, unless you want to see me get _un_friendly, then you'll get your fucking hands off her – get her coffee and then get me mine. Was that put simply enough to register in the single brain cell inside your head?"

Rukia exhaled and closed her eyes, attempting to find her inner equilibrium – but… it proved difficult, especially when Mr Kurosaki's notably firm stomach was lightly touching her back…

The man hesitated before his eyes widened (presumably) upon seeing Mr Kurosaki's expression and he released her hand.

"Now get her the coffee." He instructed, huskily.

Okay, he really didn't need to sound like that! It was unnecessary.

"I don't want a coffee. I didn't realise you can't pay by card." She exhaled, straining to maintain a relatively calm demeanour.

Without another word, her boss pulled out his wallet and slapped down the money on the counter, "Make it two cappuccinos and hurry the fuck up."

Taking a measured breath, Rukia turned and faced her boss, her jaw set, "I don't need you, of all people, to buy me a coffee." She murmured, finding her eyes landing on a thick leather jacket draped over a pair of broad shoulders.

Oh.

Averting her eyes almost immediately, she felt both his arms reach around her to grab the two coffees on the counter she was currently pressed against.

She couldn't help feeling a little… warm.

Okay, fine – she was overheating!

But it wasn't like it was her fault!

She would have to be stupid not to notice that he did have a body carved to perfection.

She would also be stupid not to notice that it was lightly resting against hers… and that it was sending her brain into overdrive.

However, when she attempted to sniff in disapproval at their current position, a somewhat… divine… scent reached her dainty nose.

It wasn't a cologne she recognised. It was slightly addictive; a hint of musk, alluringly captivating and –

Other note to self: Do not, for the love of Benzaiten, describe your boss' scent… particularly when he's standing right in front of you.

Shutting down almost all bodily functions, Rukia waited for a few seconds before she finally opened her eyes, making sure the moment had long passed.

Ignoring her last remark, he indicated to the corner seats.

All she really felt like doing was knocking that coffee out of his hands and watching it spill all over his smug little face…

She wasn't sure exactly what possessed her to move her feet in the direction of the corner, except what she did know was that she was following him.

Why?

Who knew?

But the small voice in her mind shouted gleefully 'And who the hell cares?'

Mutely taking a seat, she perched herself rigidly on the leather cushion.

Her coffee sat untouched before her as she folded her hands lightly in her lap.

How was she expected to drink coffee right then when her mind was plagued with countless, confusing thoughts?

Why did her boss suddenly decide to show up and play the infuriating role of being her hero?!

Was this his idea of just being a total ass to her but in a way that would get her worked up more than anything else he had done?

Because it was damn well working!

One thing she had expected for him to do was to keep quiet – which, funnily enough, he did.

He remained silent and sipped lightly at his coffee, apparently oblivious to the rest of the world.

Of course, she could tell he was staring at her through that thick, orange fringe, mainly because her cheeks felt as if they were glowing.

Sick of the awkward silence, she clicked her tongue, "You know… I didn't need you to step in like that. I had it under control." She informed him, icily.

He didn't reply, but she could see that arrogant little smirk on his lips as he poised them at the rim of his coffee cup.

Oh, so he didn't believe her?

With her body held as stiff as a board, she muttered, "I am perfectly capable of defending myself you know…"

He ignored her statement, yet again.

See? This is _exactly _the kind of thing that got her worked up!

One minute, he'd be as smooth, charismatic and slightly charming as he pleased.

But the next, he'd be a total asshole.

Oh, he got her so angry!

Glaring at him, not caring that he was probably watching her over to rim of his coffee cup, Rukia folded her arms, deciding that actually, looking at his face would probably provoke him more.

But because her eyes were trying to look anywhere but his face, it meant they landed on his appearance.

Aside from noticing the leather jacket, she had barely glanced at his exterior at all.

It was strange seeing him in casual clothing – his thick leather jacket open at the front revealing a comfortably tight white shirt and two necklaces, presumably ones he tucked behind his work shirt when in the office; silver dog tags hung loosely from his neck along with a black string necklace – however, the most irritating thing about it was that the pendant on the end was just concealed behind the dog tags.

Okay, that was going to bug her for the rest of the day.

Beneath the black motorbike helmet he balanced on his knee was a pair of snug, black padded trousers and two motorbike boots.

So… he rode a motorbike?

That was… uh… that was… _damn_.

Motorbikes.

There was something incredibly… she wouldn't use the word 'sexy' about her boss, because that would be highly inappropriate – and of course, completely untrue. Besides that, she hated him and it was common knowledge. At least, that meant, Rangiku knew and she made a point of chatting to the others about the intensity of his and Rukia's occasional interactions.

But… there was something mildly attractive about the thought of him donned up in black leathers straddling a – okay, this was getting a little too vivid.

Her cheeks coloured and she distracted herself by focusing quietly on her pale hands.

But of course he would notice.

How could he not?

Nothing got by Mr I. Kurosaki, did it?

No, Sir.

"You aren't drinking your coffee." He commented, the essence of that smug little smirk still ghosting his lips.

_Really? _And here she was, all this time, thinking she was sitting there comfortably, consuming the wonderful coffee that her kind-hearted boss had bought her, purely from the goodness of his non-existent heart! It was so kind of him to point it out to her. Oh, she could never thank him enough!

There several things she would have _liked _to have said.

Except, she didn't want to talk more than necessary.

So, she would do exactly what he did.

She remained silent.

…For about thirty seconds, until…

"Something wrong?" He asked, "You're quiet."

"No, Sir. Everything's perfectly fine, thank you." She replied, not caring enough to conceal her utmost displeasure at the entire situation she had currently found herself in.

The coffee remained untouched. She would _not _drink it. That would imply that the way he was acting was okay – which it wasn't.

He just shrugged, lightly, "You know… You really don't need to call me 'Sir'. We aren't working after all."

_Really?_ He was trying to be friendly?

Letting loose a quiet sigh, she glanced up to face him, squarely, "Well, what did you expect me to call you?"

He reached forwards, extending a hand, "Forgive me, Miss. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki. What's yours?"

Of course. He had a name… She hadn't really thought about what the 'I' stood for – she mostly just assumed that because he was so self-absorbed, it was just another reference to himself…

She surveyed his outstretched hand as if it was carrying some form of highly contagious disease, "What on Earth are you doing?" She asked, not bothering to free her tones from the severe hostility she felt towards him.

Unfazed, he replied, "I'm sure you're familiar with this form of Westernized greeting, are you not?"

Though she wasn't entirely sure what game he was trying to play, she consented to play it anyway… Taking his hand, and ignoring the overbearing heat his fingers emitted, she was about to distract herself with a snide comment at his expense, but decided better of it and replaced her remark with a patient sigh.

"You look like you have something to say. Do you want to say it… Rukia?" He asked, politely, retracting his hand from hers.

Hey, he wasn't sticking to his own rules. She hadn't even told him her name yet.

Oh, why did she even care?!

She shook her head, "No, Sir, you don't like cliché sentences and what I was about to say is probably something you hear all the time."

"It's Ichigo. Not Sir." He reminded her, "And I assure you, I would love to hear whatever it is you have to say, regardless of how it may sound." The corners of his lips pulled up into a civil smile and it was then that she realised he was totally mocking her; the handshake… the fake smiles…!

He was mimicking the way she acted on her first meeting with him – and yes, she could understand why it was so irritating – but that was beside the point!

Well, fine. He asked for it.

"Okay, so why is it you were named after a fruit?" She didn't ask it in that way that could have meant 'no offense intended… but…' She asked it that way that definitely meant 'please take as much offense as possible…'

"It doesn't mean that." He muttered, "It means 'he who protects'."

"Is that so? Oh, what exactly do you protect? Was that you trying to live up to your name back there? Because honestly, I'd prefer you to direct your protection to somebody who actually wants it."

A flicker of the old resentment he used when sitting behind his office desk returned and he replied with a quiet question, "Oh, did you complete your corrections, by the way?"

Bristling only very slightly, she shook her head, "No, because if you recall–"

Interrupting her rather rudely, he smirked, "–I believe I asked you to not treat me like your boss, did I not?"

Oh, the nerve.

"Well, it's difficult not to when you're acting like my boss."

He just smiled, good-naturedly, "I must admit, it's also difficult not to get you worked up. You are a little… should I say… appealing when you get angry." She ignored the way he spoke with a subtle, yet involuntary growl in the tenors of his voice.

She also had to ignore the light shudder she felt crawling down her neck.

"Oh, you think so?" She leaned forwards and clasped her hands together, a fatally sweet smile beginning to form on her lips – one that she had practiced to perfection, and was enough to cause even the deadliest of predators to hesitate before attacking, "Well, then, you'll be pleased to know I'm about to get really… should I say… irresistible."

She watched the way his jaw slackened and his shoulders dropped, just a little, before she stood up and brushed down her skirt lest the silence got too uncomfortable.

"Mr Kurosaki, Sir, it's been such a pleasure, I can assure you… But I really should go."

He tilted his head to one side, but said nothing.

She waited for a moment as if he might speak, but he just kept quiet, that unreadable expression on his face.

"So… thanks for the coffee…" Leaning down, Rukia picked up her bag and turned away, not sparing him a second glance.

"You mean the one you didn't even drink?"

She didn't answer but continued on walking towards the exit, hearing his voice again.

"You know, one day, somebody decent is going to do something real nice for you, and you're just going to end up breaking their heart." He spoke, just as she approached the door.

It wasn't as if he'd said it loud, or shouted it or anything… but she heard him perfectly clearly.

And she was fuming.

"It would depend whether or not the individual doing something nice for me actually had a heart or not." She retorted, pulling open the door and stepping out into the fresh twilight before he had a chance to process what she'd said.

She wasn't entirely sure why she was trying not to shake.

Maybe she was angry at the words she'd just heard her boss speak – and why he'd spoken them was beyond her!

Just so out of the blue?

Like her personal life was any of his business!

Why did he have to go say it in that way that made her think he knew something she didn't want him to?

Oh! If she was angry earlier, it was nothing to how she felt right then!

Turning her head to glare at the back of his through the window as she walked past, she was caught momentarily off guard as she notice him swirling the contents of the cup he'd bought for her around absently in his hand.

He wasn't drinking it.

Just looking at it.

Maybe he was just deep in thought.

Well, it was hard to tell just what he was, considering he never showed anybody those damn eyes!

Rolling her eyes, she continued on down the street, trying ever so hard to just ignore the heat prickling on the back of her neck.

It was almost as if he was watching her go.

Well, he could watch all he liked.

And, while he was at it, he could kiss her ass.

**Okay, so plenty of tension building up! There's only so much tension our beloved coupel can take… so if any of you have any fun ideas about what cheeky things could go on in the office, please just let me know. ;) **

**J'adore reading your thoughts.**

**X**


	4. Vultures

**So, to begin with, thank you to Kissonthechic, Neng, KyouyaxCloud, star133, soinlovewithbleach, Badapple12, ChApPyLoVe3, KuchikiRukia (nice to see Rukia's a fan of my story ;) ), Bleach fan queen, KuroKuchiki, Jackknife-Jack, koinzell, Queen of Tartarus, KaizokuGotenks, Hallie-Clancy, NieveDrop, jaxx and the unnamed guest reviewers! So thankful for all the support this story has received so far! In answer to one of the Guests, this isn't the sequel to The Boy With Black Hair And Amber Eyes, but the prologue to that is now up! Check on my page to find it **

Why was it she was agreeing to this?

To _any _of this?

She would rather dance blindfolded on a railway track than endure one more date with this man!

It had been about, what, three days since he had last taken her on a date? She hated Monday night dates.

Especially when they were with him.

In an attempt to quell the rising irritation she felt consuming her entire body, Rukia distracted her thoughts for a moment by focusing her eyes out of the blue tinted window.

She knew the quality of their conversation had dropped severely when the blurring images of the passing identical, grey buildings became more and more interesting to focus on than whatever it was Kaien Shiba happened to be saying to her at that moment in time.

The trouble was, was that she had taken to counting the buildings as they passed and had almost memorised each construction that existed on this all too familiar route home.

Anyway, what was it he was saying again?

She glanced at him briefly, noting the way he was sitting relaxed in his seat, one hand gripping the steering wheel and the other resting lightly on the gear stick.

Judging by the cool, mildly cocky expression he was wearing on his face, whatever it was he was talking about was probably something he had already told her several times.

It was also probably something about himself.

On a scale of one to ten about how much she cared for the many awards he claimed to have been nominated for in the past two weeks – ten being the highest – Rukia reckoned her interest level was at around abouts…

… hold on… was that a new convenience store… or had it always been there?

It was hard to tell considering they all mostly looked the same.

Unless it had just been refurbished… In fact, it was probably that one that had the faulty neon title.

She reckoned that one had needed fixing up a little bit, anyway.

Where they would have got the money from to do that was curious, considering there were that many convenience stores around, at least one of them should have been put out of business by now.

…Oh, gods above, whatever it was he was talking about must have been awful.

Since when did Rukia give a toss about damn convenience stores?

Her slender fingers drummed lightly on her thigh as she patiently waited for the eternal car ride to terminate.

Only, she found that when she anticipated something, it usually came a lot later than she wanted it to.

Unless she was anticipating something bad, such as going on a date with Shiba, then it always seemed to come skipping towards her at a far greater pace than she would have preferred.

It was only when the car fell silent that Rukia realised Kaien was looking over at her.

She would much rather he returned his attention to the road, however.

"Hm?" She murmured, realising she had encountered one of those rare moments when he actually had asked her a question and cared about hearing the answer.

Rolling his eyes and letting loose an easy laugh, he repeated, fixing his emerald eyes back on the windscreen, "I said, it's probably about time we made you useful, isn't it?"

"I… I beg your pardon?" Transferring her gaze onto the side of his cheek, she stared hard at him. Just what was that supposed to mean?!

"Hey, chill out, Mrs Shiba–"

"–Rukia–"

"–All I meant, darling wife, is that you haven't done a great deal of spying on Kurosaki's sect just yet, have you?"

Rukia exhaled, softly, stifling a yawn, "Just awaiting orders, Sir…"

She was, to say the least, completely drained.

For one, she was rapidly losing the will to sit up straight – which was a major sign that something within her body was disastrously wrong.

If there was one thing Rukia Kuchiki never did, it was slouch.

For two, she felt her mind reject the notion of completing all those papers she had been assigned upon her arrival back home, by her beloved, ignorant, stupid boss.

She forgot the third reason as her mind settled on the second.

He was so irritating!

He expected _her _to do almost everything! He had even suggested she edited _his _work!

Lazy git.

Then again, perhaps he had intended it as a compliment – though he never paid compliments to anyone… at least, anyone except himself.

"Well?"

Rukia glanced back up at Kaien, almost feeling guilty.

_Almost._

"Sorry, would you mind repeating that?" She requested, unable to sound the least bit apologetic.

He laughed, "Goodness, wife, your head's way up in the clouds today. You can't be tired, can you? You've hardly even done anything!"

She distinctly remembered slinging as many curses at him in her mind as she could possibly think of.

Not at all interested in replying to him, she remained silent, continuing to count the buildings as they passed.

"So, here's the deal, Rukia…" He began, his voice fading away as she rapidly lost focus on –

– Wait, hold up, that other convenience store was _definitely _new… the one they had just passed was the one with the faulty neon light.

"…Can you do that?"

Oh, he was going to murder her.

…Well, he was welcome to it.

"Wait, so…" She closed her eyes, feigning concentration, "You want me to…"

"…Get all the articles that you write this week, yes." He nodded as Rukia quietly thanked the fact that he loved the sound of his own voice so much, he had to finish off almost every single one of her sentences.

"Right, and give them to you on–"

"–Friday, yes."

"Okay, excellent. Was there anything–?"

"–The monthly meeting which you should have in two days' time, yes."

…And also the fact that he finished every one of his own sentences with 'yes'.

She vaguely wondered how he would react if she said 'no'.

Well, he probably wouldn't be listening to her anyway.

Rukia exhaled, quietly, "So, this monthly meeting, what is it you want me to pass on to you from it?"

"You really aren't yourself today, are you? What happened to the alert, quick-witted girl I know?" He asked, cheerfully, swinging the car speedily around the corner as they approached her road.

Well, it wasn't speedy enough!

"All I really need you to get is the notes from his personal assistant and…"

What? Oh, yes, he was still talking to her.

"… a brief summary of what has been said during the meeting, yes?"

_No_.

She gave a quick, brief nod.

"And, if you don't get on this, pronto, I will have to get somebody else on the job… do I make myself clear?" He asked, his voice lowering almost comically – and it would have been amusing if it wasn't the fact that his expression had hardened, his green eyes turning to rock emerald.

"As clear as a pair of spectacle lenses." She replied, evenly, barely knowing what she'd said until she felt Kaien's searching eyes on her once again.

"Interesting terminology." He commented, but she didn't care to turn to meet his confused gaze.

"Just a habit I picked up of not using cliché from somewhere." She mumbled, absently and sighed, internally slapping herself upon recognising what she'd just spoken.

Why did she let him rub off on her so much?

_Rub off on her_? Bad choice of words there, Rukia.

…Okay, a sudden mental image sprang into her mind which was neither acceptable nor welcomed – or at least, it wasn't acceptable.

Rukia – for goodness sake, it should not be welcomed, either!

_Anyway!_

"So, I guess he's rubbed off on you too."

"What?" Oh, for goodness sake! She had just managed to clear her head of that… vivid image! But she was far too busy trying to push away thoughts that what he'd said hadn't really registered in his mind until he continued, his voice so quiet, it almost sounded dark.

"Kurosaki." Came the simple reply.

Rukia felt a _little_ stunned.

Just how well did Kaien know her boss?

The car pulled to a halt and he exhaled, turning his body around to face her.

Rukia, now's the time to escape.

She smiled and nodded her head, politely, one hand already poised to pull open the door handle at the first sign of personal space boundaries being breached.

"Listen, Rukia." His voice was low, authoritative – but not in the way that made her want to submit to him.

He spoke in that way that meant clearly, she _had _to obey – so it appeared she didn't have a great deal of choice.

"…Just to get one thing straight…" His eyes were fixed earnestly on hers, though they were not warm or inviting – more like… they were firm and even conveyed a slight hint of threat. But, what on Earth could he threaten her about? Continuing on, he edged a little closer to her, holding one large hand out in front of him, all fingers pointing towards her as he spoke, "I do not want you to see other people, okay?"

Rukia stared at him, incredulously – okay, no, that was a slight exaggeration. Kuchikis _never _showed any sign of severe emotion. Ever. It was unnecessary and a waste of time and effort. She just observed him, her features expressing a little curiosity.

To be honest, the only time they ever showed the slightest trace of sentiment or passion was because they were either caught off guard (which also rarely happened) or if they were scaring small children and animals.

In fact, however, Byakuya frequently saw to it that he never showed emotion around said species merely because he received some sort of sick pleasure (though that word would perhaps be far too extreme for him) out of seeing them scared.

For example, Rukia had once asked him just why he didn't seem perturbed when a group of children crossed over to the other side of the road, terrified, as they approached him.

His simple (and slightly psychotic) response, interestingly enough was, 'It amuses me'.

He never had been particularly normal, though, so it was hardly surprising…

Over the years, Rukia had picked up his mannerisms – whether involuntarily or not, she wasn't too sure, only she found that in actual fact, everything was far easier to cope with when she appeared unfazed by whatever event befell her.

"I beg your pardon, Sir, but how do you expect me to go about my daily life without seeing anybody else? Why, the moment I wake up and open my curtains, I see–"

"–Don't play ostrich with me."

Rukia remained, for the most part, relatively still, "Ostrich?"

"Yeah… Burying your head in the sand. You know what I'm talking about. I don't mean seeing just anybody…" He began to explain, to which she sniffed, returning his earlier comment back on him.

"Interesting terminology." She muttered, quietly.

"Yeah, it is. It's _normal_." Well, she begged to differ, "It isn't one of these creative, fancy non-cliché sentences. So, when you're with me, you can be normal – instead of pretending to be someone you're clearly not."

So far, Kaien wasn't particularly persuading her to agree with his point of view.

Well, she'd give the man a chance.

After all, the doors seemed to be locked, so it wasn't as if she had much a choice.

…Thinking about it, that was mildly worrying.

Her eyebrows climbed minimally towards her hairline as an indication for him to proceed – and Kaien being Kaien, leapt at any opportunity to exercise the sound of his own vocal chords.

"What I mean, Rukia, is that I don't want you dating other people. Do you understand me?"

Well, it was slightly self-explanatory. She'd have to be an idiot not to understand it.

But agreeing to it was something entirely different.

Though pondering upon it, she realised there wasn't really anybody else she could date considering she hadn't settled properly into society just yet – but it didn't mean that she still wouldn't like the option.

However, Rukia generally didn't date as a rule – not that it was her rule. It was mostly Byakuya's.

He had claimed that he believed nobody deserved to date her.

Whether that was good or bad was a concept beyond her comprehension… along with most of her brother's quirks. Byakuya often made small, cryptic remarks that only he understood. But, Rukia had learned to either accept them… or just ignore them.

Usually, she would smile politely and feign interest in a random object in close proximity to her.

But… that would be deviating… what was the current issue at hand, again?

Kaien had edged closer to her, pressing his palms against her seat, "Well? Do I make myself clear or not?"

Oh, he made himself clear, alright.

"I understand this may be your wish, Mr Shiba, but please allow me to make _myself _clear. You do not own me. As far as I am aware, we are not officially dating and–"

"–Then let's make it official." He interjected, his eyes bearing down hard into hers.

"Please, you are too forward. I–"

"–Just confident." Apparently, interrupting was now considered an acceptable quality of maintaining a tolerable conversation with another member of society.

Rukia just held his gaze for a moment, determined not to look away from his wild, green eyes.

In truth, she felt a little sick at the thought of being labelled as Kaien's girlfriend.

Ugh, no.

Definitely not an appropriate word to use… for anyone… ever.

She could have tried to escape, but Kaien, being the wonderfully polite young man he was, had locked all the doors and was currently moving closer to her, "Now, we'll seal this deal with a kiss and speak no more of our little… disagreement."

"Our disagreement?" Rukia stalled, her back hitting the side of the car door as she tried to lean as far away from him as possible, "Surely you wouldn't go as far as to call it that would you?" She asked, her fingers sliding subtly towards the lock on her door.

"Call it what you will. I'm getting that kiss." His hand rested on her knee and he pushed himself forwards, barely giving Rukia the chance to escape, before his lips were, once again, on hers.

Oh, for the love of all that's good and holy…

…That's if there was anything good and holy left in this forsaken world – and judging by the way Kaien's greedy lips were forcing hers apart, she couldn't seem to think of anything to oppose her stray thought.

Rukia's eyes screwed shut tightly as if she were trying ever so hard to block him out – but of course, that didn't work.

Biting down on her lower lip, he slid his fingers further up her thigh, playing with the hem of her skirt, which was when Rukia had decided that he had gone just a step too far, "Kaien, don't do that." She requested, quietly, turning her mouth away from his, her eyes involuntarily watering at the stabbing pain she experienced of his teeth on her lip.

A trace of dark annoyance leaked into his tones as he continued, his hand creeping under the fabric, "You're mine now, Rukia… I can do with you as I please."

Okay, that was pushing it a little far… Correct her if she was wrong, but she was almost one hundred percent sure that wasn't how these so-called-relationships worked.

Rukia had often had difficulty controlling her temper – especially around obnoxious members of the opposite sex, "No, Kaien. You do _not _own me. I work for you – I am not merely a device to be used to satisfy you."

Kaien pulled away from her for a moment, cupping her jaw with one hand and bringing her to face him, "See, now, Mrs Shiba, that's where you're wrong. Your brother's future is held in the palm of my hand… I can destroy him, or I can provide him with the means to lead a successful, happy life." He brushed his lips across hers, "That's what he deserves, isn't it? You'd hate to be responsible for his financial destruction, as well as your own quality of life, would you?"

Rukia felt something, it could have been hurt, anger… malice, pool within her stomach, but she knew he was right.

Though, that didn't stop her from pushing against his chest, and staring him dead in the eyes, "No, I wouldn't. You're right." She placed her hand on his and forced his fingers off her thigh, "But neither will I be used as a weapon against myself. I will do whatever you ask of me – anything – except that."

She was well aware Kaien wasn't one to accept defeat, easily. Returning her furious glare, he narrowed his eyes, "So, what? You're _refusing_ me?" He spoke the word as if it was a new, but dirty taste on his tongue.

Rukia had never argued properly with Kaien before, and she despised the thought of it, but she could not let this continue. His immoral behaviour could damage so much more than her skirt he was currently tugging at.

Her self-preservation was at stake, and Rukia would not let him tear anything away from her, least of all her clothes.

Yes, so what, perhaps Rukia hadn't maintained a clean record throughout her whole life, but never had she simply allowed somebody to take advantage of her because they fancied relieving the stress in their pants.

That wasn't the way she worked, and he'd have to get used to it.

"Yes, Kaien, I am refusing you this one small action." She responded, firmly, watching as he exhaled, angrily, slamming a fist against the steering wheel.

Well, he'd better watch out, because if he set off the airbag, Rukia wouldn't dream of concealing her laughter. Even the thought of it was enough to lighten her spirits just a little…

"Dammit, Rukia! I am _not _accustomed to being refused of something I want."

Composing herself, quietly, Rukia took a deep breath and replied, "I _am _sorry to hear that, Kaien. But _I _am not accustomed to giving things away that I don't want to give."

He glanced furiously at her beneath his black bangs of hair and tilted his head upwards for a moment, "You know… I'm starting to wonder if there's somebody else in your life."

Of all the things to wonder about somebody… trust Kaien to choose something as ridiculous as that.

Rolling her eyes and unlocking the door, she slid her fingers through the handle and pulled it open, gently, "I doubt that. But unless you're careful, there will be one person _less _in my life. Now, I'll do as you ask and get my articles and the notes from the monthly meeting, but that is all for now. I do hope this doesn't change anything between us." She told him, only half-sincerely, "Goodnight, Kaien." After she stepped gracefully out onto her feet, swinging the door shut behind her, Rukia held her posture straight enough to make her brother proud, and strode into the house, with her chin jutted out in front of her.

However it was only when her bedroom door was closed and locked firmly behind her, that she felt the sense of pride immediately depart from her entire being.

Sliding her back down the wood until she felt herself hit the floor, with nothing but emptiness inside, Rukia began to panic – not as drastically as perhaps an average human being would – but still, she felt her body begin to tremble ever so slightly.

What had she done?

She had refused the man who could potentially crush both her and her brother's lives in an instant.

All it would take would be for him to publish one article and they would be ruined.

Not that it would matter to her.

But she couldn't face putting her brother in that situation. He had shaped his entire life around his work, and had done so well, until the subordinates in his company had made a mistake, forming a contract with a firm who were completely unreliable and damaged the company's reputation, leaving Byakuya to pay for their mistake with everything he had.

He had not had a peaceful year in his life without something dragging him back down to the gutter.

He was worth more than that – his sacrifices, his selflessness, and his compassion were all qualities he kept quiet, but Rukia knew they were there. Well, she was testimony of them, herself.

But, that would be digressing.

As much as she wanted her brother to be happy, she could not give up her self-worth to Kaien.

She just hoped he wouldn't be too deterred from wanting to help them – though the likelihood was he was already plotting their ruin.

A small, childish expression crept into Rukia's mind and she bit down on her lips, her eyes closing.

_It isn't fair._

Dropping her purse to the carpet, she pulled her legs up to her chest. Balancing her elbows on her knees, she rested her forehead on her forearms, attempting to quell the rising aggravation building in her body.

_Well, life isn't fair, Rukia, and it's about time you got used to it._

…

Rukia had been thankful, to say the least, when she received a text the following day, from Momo asking if it were at all possible for her to pick Hikaru up from school that afternoon.

Rukia could do with something to take her mind off… well, everything.

She had printed off every one of her old articles, and had finished off writing her current essay she had been assigned by the slave driver, and was currently clutching it in her arms, ready to go and hand it in.

However, when she knocked on his office door, the only greeting she received was the unexpected and unwelcomed sound of his personal assistant's voice, "Who is it?"

Curious.

"It's Rukia; I have something to hand in." She spoke, cautiously, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything weird.

Since when did Orihime spend longer than ten seconds in Kurosaki's office?

The door opened, and Miss Inoue held out her hand, expectantly, "I'll see he gets it."

"Is he not in?" Rukia cursed herself for portraying interest, and she shook her head, "Well, clearly not."

"He had to go early today. He'll be back tomorrow." She replied, a hint of self-importance lining her piccolo tones.

Oh, well, how wonderful for him.

Rukia nodded, forcing a smile, "Right, well, I've finished up here, so I'll see you tomorrow, Orihime."

"Of course." She bowed her head, and closed the door behind Rukia, who made her way back over to her seat, collecting her things.

"It's funny when Kurosaki's absent… she hovers around his room like a bee to honey." Rangiku commented, surveying Rukia for a moment, but when she didn't reply, she placed down the pen she was currently nibbling on and raised an eyebrow, "Where are you shooting off to? Finished already?"

"Yeah, I'm babysitting." Rukia replied, vacantly, filing away her articles into a black, shiny folder.

"Hey, you okay?" Rangiku frowned, a question that provoked Yumi's ears to prick up and he leaned forwards, eyeing Rukia, carefully.

"Is something wrong, Rukia?" He asked, quietly, but Rangiku just elbowed him in the arm.

"Steal my question, why don't you, moron…" She muttered, trying to block Rukia from his view.

"I did not steal your question – I merely rephrased it to show my interest in her well-being; now stop being such a cow, and move. She's my friend too, you know." He complained, attempting to budge Rangiku's body from his line of vision. In response, she just turned to the side, using her boobs as a brilliantly effective shield instead – much to the chagrin of Yumichika.

Rukia was fairly preoccupied in thoughts of the previous night and she hadn't gotten a great deal of sleep considering she was a little nervous about the possible outcome of her and Kaien's argument.

He was pissed.

That was for certain.

Maybe he'd cool down…

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk." Ikkaku offered, glancing over the back of his chair at the squabbling two who were awaiting Rukia's response.

Rukia had barely registered a word that her colleagues had spoken, and she just glanced up to see their eyes all fixed to her, and she blinked, mildly shocked, "I'm sorry…What?"

"Never mind, honey." Rangiku reached over and patted Rukia's hand, comfortingly, "Make sure the little critter you're babysitting for doesn't give you any trouble. You should get an early night – you look tired."

Rukia was sure she had good intentions, but hearing the words didn't bring her a great deal of consolation, and she just managed a small smile, "Of course, thank you. See you all tomorrow." She inclined her head towards the trio before draping her bag strap over her shoulder.

"Bye, Rukia, hope you feel okay soon." Yumi waved, grinning brightly at her.

Returning his smile, she nodded her head and turned on her heel.

Oh, Kami, had she really made it that obvious?

…

_In the greyness__  
__and drizzle of one despondent__  
__dawn unstirred by harbingers__  
__of sunbreak a vulture__  
__perching high on broken__  
__bone of a dead tree__  
__nestled close to his__  
__mate his smooth__  
__bashed-in head, a pebble__  
__on a stem rooted in__  
__a dump of gross__  
__feathers, inclined affectionately__  
__to hers. Yesterday they picked__  
__the eyes of a swollen__  
__corpse in a water-logged__  
__trench and ate the things in its bowel. Full__  
__gorged they chose their roost__  
__keeping the hollowed remnant__  
__in easy range of cold__  
__telescopic eyes ...__  
__Strange__  
__indeed how love in other__  
__ways so particular__  
__will pick a corner__  
__in that charnel-house__  
__tidy it and coil up there, perhaps__  
__even fall asleep - her face__  
__turned to the wall!__  
__...Thus the Commandant at Belsen__  
__Camp going home for__  
__the day with fumes of__  
__human roast clinging__  
__rebelliously to his hairy__  
__nostrils will stop__  
__at the wayside sweet-shop__  
__and pick up a chocolate__  
__for his tender offspring__  
__waiting at home for Daddy's return ...__  
__Praise bounteous__  
__providence if you will__  
__that grants even an ogre__  
__a tiny glow-worm__  
__tenderness encapsulated__  
__in icy caverns of a cruel__  
__heart or else despair__  
__for in every germ__  
__of that kindred love is__  
__lodged the perpetuity__  
__of evil._

Okay, thinking about it, Chinua Achebe's contribution to anthology may have been a dramatic metaphor to use in a situation such as this, but Rukia could hardly help it.

She had done a double-take upon entering the gates of the school ground to pick up Hikaru, when her eyes had landed on a small girl, running unmistakably towards a tall figure, who's neon fringe had grown over his (potentially non-existent) eyes.

Her violet eyes widened just for a split-second as they landed on his lips, which – to her utmost surprise – had curved up into a small smile.

Rukia's bewilderment only increased as the small girl flung herself at his leg, grinning up at him.

Good heavens.

Was she dreaming?

Well, it would be a curious dream to have, but even so, it seemed more realistic to be a scene conjured up in her mind than to actually belong to reality.

It was definitely Kurosaki.

Aside from the obvious features only he possessed, she could see his mannerisms present themselves in ways that only he knew how to.

For example, the way his hands rested lightly in his pockets as if to show he was completely at ease, but his arms were tensed underneath his shirt. Clearly, there was still something on his mind.

She had half expected him to be more relaxed in the presence of his… no, it couldn't have been his daughter…

It _couldn't _be.

Kurosaki didn't have the qualities of being a Father. He was far too… self-absorbed to care about the existence of another.

Then again, it wasn't particularly her place to judge considering she knew him only in the work place.

Maybe he was really fatherly and… and… no, it just didn't seem to fit.

But, why was she so opposed to the idea of him having a daughter?

She couldn't place a finger on the answer to that question, and as a result, chose to ignore it.

Though, she could not bring herself to ignore the interaction which continued to take place between the two individuals who stood a little further down the playground.

He hadn't noticed her, thank goodness, which meant she could still continue to observe without him branding her a creep.

The young girl was laughing and holding her arms out to Kurosaki, "Pick me up, pick me _up_!"

Her boss crouched down and rested his elbows lightly on his knees as he levelled his face with hers, "I didn't hear the magic word, young lady."

She giggled and poked his nose, playfully, "Abracadabra."

Rukia raised her eyebrows; surely, he wouldn't stand for such cheek – at least not without assigning his… daughter… fifty essays to complete before the next day…

"Abracadabra. That's right." His face had been concealed behind the small girl's, but Rukia could hear the smile in his tones, "I think Mummy would rather you said 'please', but…"

"…But you're not Mummy." She filled in, laughing, lightly, "So pick me up, Abracadabra."

Kurosaki's large hands reached out and he pulled the girl up into his arms, holding her against his chest, "And do you know what else I don't think Mummy would be too happy about?"

"What?" She asked, placing a small hand on his broad shoulder. He let loose a quiet – yes a genuine, actual – laugh, and pointed over the fence towards a sleek, shiny black sports car.

Well, this sight provoked an impressed, or shocked, gasp from the child, "You stole Mummy's car!" She clapped a dainty hand over her mouth and shook her head, "You are so, _so _dead. Mummy will kill you."

Kurosaki didn't have the grace to even look a little ashamed of himself (which was only what was to be expected) – instead he just shrugged, "No, I wouldn't go as far as to say I stole it. I _borrowed _it. There's a difference. And you _know _Mummy won't kill me."

Judging by the expression on the child's face, she wasn't convinced, "Yes… Yes, she will." She insisted, indignantly.

"No… No, she won't. She'll have to catch me first, and as we know, Mummy would've already killed me many times, but she's just too slow…" He managed a familiar smirk and kissed the girl's head, "…Plus, we have her car now, so she doesn't have much hope, does she?"

Oh, Rukia was willing to bet the girl's mother didn't know he had her car…

Typical Kurosaki.

She watched as he carried her towards the direction of the car, still talking (as) animatedly (as he could) when a small voice interrupted her thought flow.

"Aunty Rukia?"

She glanced down at Hikaru and smiled, holding her hand out to him, which he took, eagerly, bouncing excitedly up and down, "Guess what I did today!"

"Hm… I don't know. You'll have to tell me…" She smiled, warmly, to which Hikaru grinned, "I fell off the slide and got sent to first aid."

Well, if she was expecting something, it wasn't that…

"Oh, really? You look over-the-moon about that."

"I am! Look, I have a battle scar, now!" He held his arm out, releasing her hand, and pointed to a graze on his elbow. Rukia bent down and pressed a kiss to it, "Well, luckily you lived to tell the tale."

As he pulled her in the direction of the exit, Rukia felt her skin heat up, and she wasn't dim enough to know that it wasn't caused by a sudden change in the world's temperature… Her eyes flickered to the black sports car across the road where Kurosaki was standing behind, his head and shoulders just visible behind the roof. Her eyes landed on a face, half covered by orange spikes and his jaw slackened minimally as her eyes met his fringe.

Tightening her hand around Hikaru's, she allowed herself to sweep her eyes across Kurosaki's defined jaw once, before she smirked to herself.

He had rested one hand on the roof of the car, his head following the direction in which she was walking.

All Rukia remembered thinking was that she would have paid anything to see his eyes right then.

If they were as gormless as the rest of his face, she would have leapt for joy.

But, inwardly…

So nobody saw.

Well, if he had his own daughter, there was no reason why she would lead him to believe that Hikaru wasn't her son.

Besides, if he challenged her to a game, it was only fair she play it.

Dropping her eyes from his features, she smirked, slightly, "Come on, Hikaru, let's get in the car."

**Okay, so I apologise for the lack of interaction between Rukia and Ichigo in this chapter, but it was pretty essential to the rest of the plot. And I promise that I will put in a couple of heated scenes to feed your perverted minds in the next few chapters. Thanks to those who have supported me so far, and please leave a review and let me know what you're thinking. I want your ideas and your thoughts, so don't be shy. **

**Also, forgive my errors; I worked very hard to get this completed today, even though my eyes tried to close on me on several occasions.**

**Thank you x**

_**Vultures – Chinua Achebe**_


	5. Thought Processes

**Once again, so sorry for the delay and so on… Just been incredibly busy with… well, life…**

**So, the regular shout out to ****Jackknife-Jack, NieveDrop, KaizouGotenks, KuchikiRukia, Hekka, KuroKuchiki, 'Thank you', ChApPyLoVe3, lonely flame, Hallie-Clancy, and my five guest reviewers!**** Unless you write stories yourself, you may not fully understand just how valued and appreciated your reviews are! Thank you to all those who make an effort in giving me feedback and supporting the story! Please forgive flaws/ errors… I spent all night finishing this espesh for you guys.**

**Also, I think I replied to everybody, but if I didn't, sorry! I still love you! **

**3**

Admittedly, it had been rather a silly thing to assume that her boss would believe Hikaru was her son… Rukia wasn't entirely sure what she was thinking of when the notion crossed her mind, but either way… perhaps she was a woman of many secrets… He had never asked her about any possible children in the interview, and she generally kept her personal life private from prying (or concealed) eyes such as his.

Although he already knew she babysat for a child, she never specified the child's age, gender or anything else of the sort…

Oh, it really didn't matter.

It gave her a confidence boost when the thought had initially crossed her mind.

… Just so long as he could see he wasn't the only one who could keep secrets.

But the question was… Why was she rising to this – or rather, was there anything to even rise to?

Oh, she didn't know! All she did know was that he made her head hurt.

Closing her eyes, Rukia sighed and pressed two fingers to her right temple, leaning her elbow lightly against the desk surface.

If this headache didn't leave soon, she was seventy three percent sure that her brain would spontaneously combust.

"Hey, honey, what's up?"

Hm? Rukia felt one eye attempt to pull itself open, but unfortunately was overruled by the severe lethargy weighing every part of her body down towards the centre of the Earth.

"Rukia, is everything okay?"

"Oh, for goodness sake, Yumichika, I asked first. Would you stop copying me all the time?"

"Yes, well, she's _my _friend too! Anyway, I don't want to talk to you, Rangiku, I'm trying to talk to Rukia."

If this continued, the probability of Rukia's brain imploding was climbing closer and closer to imminent.

Finally finding the strength to open her bleary eyes, Rukia stared at the two of them, "What?"

They immediately ceased their squabbling and turned to look apprehensively at her – which is something they'd taken to doing quite a lot lately.

Kami, was she really that scary?

…Probably.

"We were just wondering if you're alright." They said together, blatantly ignoring that the other had spoken the exact same words at the same time.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, managing to send them both a small smile, fighting the relentless urge to curl up in the leather, swizzle chair she was sitting in and fall asleep like a cat.

Rangiku pointed to the computer screen, "Well… your essay."

"Yes…? What about it?"

Yumi sighed and indicated to where her elbow was situated, "You've typed nearly five full pages of 'm's." He informed her, quietly.

Oh.

Rukia glanced at the screen and raised her eyebrows, "I see." Shifting her attention to her elbow, she realised that where she had previously anticipated herself resting it on the desk, she was actually jamming the 'm' key down into the base of the board.

Pulling her limb away from the keyboard, she sighed, "Thank you."

Quickly dispatching of all the unwanted letters, Rukia decided to straighten up and try and get her essay completed as soon as she could. Leaving the office was a highly favourable option and highly favourable options mustn't go amiss.

As she began tapping away at the keyboard, she suddenly remembered a small reminder nudging at her thoughts.

The monthly meeting.

Oh, good heavens.

She wouldn't escape this hell hole for at least the next… 10 million hours.

Tapping her long fingernails lightly against the desk – and not the keyboard – Rukia stared blankly at her screen, just wishing for the words to write themselves.

She wasn't entirely sure just why she was so distracted that day.

Well, she had a small idea.

But she didn't want her thoughts to dwell on that.

At least not until the day arrived – but at that current moment in time, explaining her thoughts was not an option – well, it was, but it wasn't as highly favourable as going home would be.

Now she was rambling and knew that if she were speaking, not one soul would know what she was talking about. Except… except perhaps Byakuya.

But all this was deviating…

She had to reapply her thought process to the essay and then to the monthly meeting.

Oh, sweet gods above, how was she going to get through the day?

…

Sometimes, thoughts are processes that should go interrupted…

Sometimes, thoughts are processes that should go _un_interrupted…

And sometimes, thoughts are processes that should not exist in the human world at all.

Why?

Well, for one, the thought process that Rukia was currently experiencing was something relating vaguely to the way her boss' golden tan arms were folded tightly across his broad chest.

This is why her thought process should have gone interrupted. For goodness sake, she practically had a (mandatory) boyfriend. These were thoughts that should not have been acceptable.

For two, they should _not _go interrupted when the individual interrupting them happens to be the culprit that was the reason for her thought process in the first place.

But that small smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips as if he was fully aware she was not paying attention… or rather, that she _was _paying attention – but to him.

And she supposed that nothing gave him more satisfaction that to watch her attempt to readjust her wandering thought process in faint panic, to something that was more related and appropriate to the work environment.

Rukia found herself wondering vaguely just why everything had suddenly gone silent… and why the majority of her colleagues in the conference room had all turned to look at her.

…And _that _was the reason why thought processes should just not exist in the first damn place at all, because now she had no idea what was going on.

Kurosaki leaned back in his seat and she could feel his eyes burning into hers, even behind his impossibly tangled fringe.

No…

No, this did _not _just happen.

Glancing up at Orihime, she blinked, as the busty, ginger-haired woman sighed, mildly frustrated, "Well?" She prompted, "What do you think, Miss Kuchiki?"

What?

Think?

Who?

"Clearly not a great deal." Kurosaki interjected, quietly – which was out of character considering that he had stayed silent for the majority of the meeting – but then again… Rukia hadn't exactly been listening so she couldn't exactly be certain…

"I think that… I think that–" She began, before realising that actually, she had been so distracted in her silent battle with Kurosaki that she had, uh, forgotten to listen.

After a brief moment of experiencing the pure desire of wanting to pin him to the floor and murder his face, she collected herself the traditional Kuchiki way – and faced Orihime, continuing through politely civil tones, "I think that the decisions you make will be made with only the best judgement."

Yumichika glanced sideways at her and tried to whisper something from the corner of his lips, but Rukia was simply not taking the hint!

Orihime was about to respond, but Kurosaki spoke first, his deep, authoritative tones rendering all other voices as meaningless, "I see. That's good. And… if you could, recite to me what decisions we've made, I'd really appreciate it."

Rukia became abruptly very aware of the way his light grey shirt was pulling across his muscular torso and had sudden difficulty answering his proposal.

"…You were listening, I presume?"

Rukia felt like blinking hurriedly and snapping out of her reverie, but that was not how she 'did things'. Instead, she tilted her head to the side, measuring him through chilled violet eyes, "Of course I was listening… I just fail to see why my opinion matters so much, Sir."

Releasing a quiet, insincere laugh, Kurosaki inclined his head towards his personal assistant and ordered, "Miss Inoue, please repeat what you just said so that Miss Kuchiki faces no doubt as to what our topic of discussion actually is."

The formerly addressed lady nodded, hurriedly, making a point of jiggling her boobs as she did so, and Rukia could practically see the hint of guilty triumph lining her lips as she spoke, purposefully protruding them into a slightly hostile pout, "'Miss Kuchiki would do well to tackle the section dedicated to mental health and well-being'."

Rukia froze.

Miss Kuchiki would do well doing _what_?!

The section on… What section?! Section of what, exactly?!

"Men…tal health… and–"

"–and well-being, yes." Orihime supplied, unhelpfully.

Kurosaki smirked, "Yes, Miss Kuchiki..."

He had to go and say it in that way that made her feel like she was sinning just to watch his lips move.

"…Mental health." His smirk widened in that way that really clawed at Rukia's patience and what he continued to say just angered her further, "I think you'd be excellent in that department."

Was he suggesting that…? She raised her eyebrows, and was so temped to retort with something along the lines of: Why? Because I'm so excellent at handling my boss who clearly copes with mental issues of his own?

…But, that probably wouldn't have gone down very well.

Along with every other insult flying to her mouth.

Instead, she managed a tight smile, caging the siege of verbal abuse behind her lips, "Oh? Why would that be?"

Leaning forwards in his chair a little and resting one ankle on the opposite knee, he shrugged, "Experience? There must be some advice you can offer about how you're trying to… overcome your own issues."

Oh, so he did go there after all.

Well, her opinion of him lowered even more than she thought possible.

His insult was messily phrased and lacked any real wit.

That could mean that he was so desperate to get her riled up that he was willing to stoop to any level just to watch her snap. Or she may have just been overthinking things.

The subtle mood behind her eyes changed from chilly to… very chilly…

She knew he was encouraging the tension to snap and for some sadistic reason unbeknownst to anyone beside himself, he wanted her to be the one to break it…

Well, she had news for him.

If she broke anything, it wouldn't be tension.

It would, without any uncertainty or doubt, be his neck.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." She responded, coolly.

If that smirk of his got any bigger, she was pretty sure it would split his face clean in two, "That's the point, Miss Kuchiki. No mad person ever really thinks they're mad."

This was getting a little too brutal for a formal conference…

Though Kurosaki may have her believe otherwise, Rukia Kuchiki was no dense fool.

The embarrassing thing was not the scatter of cautious laughter that issued following his pathetic 'jab', but the heavy blush that tainted her cheeks.

As previously confirmed, Kuchikis didn't let physical appearance portray their inward emotions, but once again, Mr I. Kurosaki had managed it.

Bravo, Sir. Bravo…

It was this that caused her anger to bubble deep within her, not his words.

Wishing that she could just throw a fatally painful object, namely a computer or a desk, or both, at his stupid, orange head, Rukia discovered she had to suffice by training her perfected icy glare onto his face – specifically at his fringe.

_Show your damn eyes, you coward._

Had it have just been the two of them, she would have had no problem in returning a comeback; however, she did not fancy getting into trouble in front of all her colleagues and humiliate herself more than he already had done.

Instead, she clamped her teeth down onto her tongue, holding back the cascade of fitting insults offering themselves up as willing tributes.

She could feel her teeth draw a few droplets of crimson blood, and she refrained from hissing at the pain and made do with wincing, quietly.

"What's the matter?" He asked, his voice soothing and calm, "Something you'd like to say?"

The tenors of his gentle tones were so purposefully provoking.

But yes, there were absolutely several things she would have liked to have said right then.

He wanted a reaction?

Well, he could go and screw himself.

_Or, you could do it for him_.

What?

Where… where had that come from?

It must have been that ridiculous, carnal-natured voice she occasionally heard speak for her in her mind…

Her nails dug into the palms of her hand as she watched the way his finely shaped jaw tensed as though he was trying not to laugh.

His smooth lips curved upwards into an almost good-natured smile, but she knew it was just an act... one designed purely just to press her buttons – and Rukia had several buttons that were just waiting to be pressed right then.

Several

_But, you would like to kiss those lips of his_.

Oh, that voice really did manifest itself at the most inconvenient of times!

She was _trying _to hate him, for goodness sake, and perhaps it wouldn't have been so damn difficult if his grey shirt wasn't so attached to his perfectly sculpted muscles!

She internally scolded herself and reminded her head that she absolutely refused to accept that it was _her _who conjured up these dark, plaguing thoughts.

…But if she refused that, then it would prove Kurosaki's theory that she _was _mentally unstable.

Even worse, she had to shun the idea of giving it a name, which was worrying…

… Besides, giving it a name would just make her more attached to it.

…Not that she was attached to it in the first place… of course.

Oh, he made her head hurt!

Damn him! Damn him and his stupid grey shirt!

Damn everything!

Furiously, she folded one leg over the other and released the pressure from her nails, not bothering to examine the indents she had caused in her pale skin, "Not at all, Sir." She replied, evenly.

Kurosaki rubbed his chin and a gentle, thoughtful grunt formed in this throat, before he murmured, his tones softening, "Is that so?"

Rukia, reluctantly entranced by his endearing voice, felt her jaw slacken ever so slightly.

As if sensing that he was finally cracking her façade, Kurosaki's infamous smirk returned once again, "Well?"

Well… well what?

What were hey talking about again?

Who knew…?

... _That grey shirt…_

…_would look so much better off him._

Oh, that was it.

Rukia was through with these ridiculous thoughts!

Straightening out her shoulders – which had been threatening to droop for some time, now – Rukia reapplied her furious glare back onto her features as if it was makeup, and hissed, "Well, nothing. I have nothing further to say… and if I did, it would probably not be appropriate for a professional environment." She added, unable to stop herself.

Looking mildly put out at her words, he exhaled and nodded, "Fine."

… He really should know that he'd be paying for this later… and even, if he was lucky, Rukia may charge him interest.

A frosty edge settled itself uncomfortably on the atmosphere and every eye in the room watched intently, the exchange between the two.

Yumichika had raised his eyebrows and he was a little… unnerved, where Rukia was concerned.

He completely respected her, but he would have placed his money on Kurosaki being the one to win in a battle of 'who-could-be-the-scariest'… however, his views had been somewhat modified as he observed Rukia, apprehensively.

Her eyes conveyed no more feeling than stone.

Amethyst stone.

The fury lining her pink lips provoked them to appear as though she was pouting ever so slightly – but not in the way Rangiku did when she was trying to pull.

And though he really didn't swing that way, he had to admit, Rukia Kuchiki was, at that moment, terrifyingly sexy.

Rangiku was also busy assessing the situation before her.

There was definitely something between the two that was going unspoken – perhaps even by them.

Kami, if these two didn't fuck sooner or later then Rangiku would proclaim herself a… a virgin!

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes at Kurosaki. If Rukia didn't seem so able to take care of herself, he would have definitely given the orange haired bastard a piece of his mind.

Rukia, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the curious stares both she and her boss were receiving from all other parties present in the room.

It was only when Orihime cleared her throat, and spoke in that infuriating peaches-and-cream voice, that Kurosaki finally pulled away from the stare-down he was having with Rukia – but through his fringe, so he was definitely cheating…

Turning his head in the direction of his personal assistant, Rukia reckoned he knew the words she was saying without even listening to them.

"Should I… Should I close, Sir?" She asked, quietly, moving to stand in the centre of his line of vision between him and Rukia.

Rukia tried not to roll her eyes, even though she confessed herself half-grateful for blocking the boss from her view.

He grunted, and fell silent, though Rukia wouldn't have minded a quick glance at his expression.

…Though that would be impossible, because seeing through mountainous boobs just didn't seem to ever prove to be effective…

Orihime sent Rukia a sickly sweet smile before she bowed her head, addressing the entire group, as though only just remembering they were present, "Thank you all for attending, and we would be delighted if you have any further–"

Kurosaki had already stood up and made his way out of the room, and back to his office without another word.

Well, apparently he didn't have any further questions.

Orihime blinked and tried to ignore his sweeping exit, before she continued, a little flustered, "–Any, um, further queries… Just… let us know."

There she went, tailing him, probably dying to make him a steaming mug of coffee and a hot plate of a million bagels.

Well, Rukia hoped she dropped the coffee on his head… and all over his damned grey shirt.

…

He swirled the contents of his mug around, watching the cold, brown liquid slosh against the stained porcelain. Funny how he could relate an object as blunt and unflattering as a mug to one of his employees.

Very funny indeed.

Her skin, porcelain, so pure and fresh… Outwards appearances were often misleading.

No, what Mr I. Kurosaki wanted to know, was what stained her… what each of her dirty little secrets she kept contained within herself were.

She hadn't reacted to his, admittedly pathetic, insult in the way he had hoped. So, it would take a great deal more to make her angry.

He mostly wanted to know how she would react, due to the fact that it would explain more about her personality.

Perhaps if she came striding in, bursting the door open and tip the desk up, he would be surprised, but satisfied.

But right then, he was far from satisfied.

He hadn't gone and fucking hired her just so she could sit in that meeting and take his insults as though they were nothing more than a child's tantrum, or something equally as tempting to ignore. He wanted a damn reaction and he would fucking well get one from her whether she liked it or not!

Mr Kurosaki wasn't sure if he'd ever felt anything stab at his patience so much. Yeah, petty arguments with motherfuckers – or just being in the company of a human being for longer than five minutes – got him riled up enough to punch someone, but he knew that this sort of impatience would not be quelled with one simple fight.

No, it would take a lot more to bring him pleasure and satisfaction – and there was just something about her that pissed him off so bad that he had no idea how to vent his anger, which wasn't always something he couldn't do. And now his thoughts had jumbled up and stopped making sense!

Gods, what was _wrong _with him?!

Gritting his teeth, he stared irritably at the phone sitting on his desk.

He wanted to break her porcelain.

He wanted to spill her contents – preferably not guts and blood (or at least not yet) – but her secrets.

He wanted to know her everything.

Kurosaki was never a man who wanted after much.

He would usually accept what he was given and get on with life.

…Though, occasionally, if there was something he did want, he would stop at nothing to get it.

He'd had enough of restraining his fingers from curling around the phone and pressing it firmly to his ear. Quickly connecting himself with his personal assistant's office, he knew she would pick up in two sec–

"–You have reached Mr I. Kurosaki's personal secretary's office. How may I–"

"–Kuchiki." The name had left his lips before he'd even had the opportunity to consider just for a moment what he was doing, "Get me… Kuchiki." He slammed the receiver back onto the hook and took a deep breath.

What was he doing?

Why could he not just stop with this obsessive behaviour?

Could she feel it too?

Did he drive her crazy without him even trying?

Well, it was difficult to tell due to the fact that she barely showed a shred of fucking emotion!

He glared at the door, his body frozen to the black leather seat.

Come on, Kuchiki! Hurry the hell up!

The sound of the two civil, almost polite, knocks on the hard wood were as sweet as dessert right after a main course of… dirt.

Though, admittedly, he had hoped to have sensed a trace of fury behind her knuckles as they rapped on his door.

Supposing it wasn't even Kuchiki?

He would be thoroughly put out.

He permitted the subject's entrance with his infamous, non-committal grunt and sat back, forcing his posture to not betray how on edge he actually felt.

What if he had taken it too far this time?

But as the door pushed open and a pale, slender hand slid from the door handle and a delicate form stepped into his office, he could see he'd been mistaken.

She had never looked so, perfectly calm – he would even go as far to say… relaxed.

But then, as she moved towards him, Miss Kuchiki asked, quietly, "You summoned me?"

"Sit." He ordered, simply, indicating his head stiffly towards the chair, to which she examined for a moment, feigning interest and perching comfortably before him.

The discomfort he experienced at seeing her act as though he was the one playing in _her _den began to mildly overpower his natural dominance, and he leaned forwards, clasping his fingers together on the desk.

She said nothing; just waited for him.

Well, couldn't she give him some kind of reason to provoke her, or something?

He searched her features for some sign that he was causing _some _kind of emotion… but the evident familiarity she expressed seemed to be just as forced as his attempt at maintaining control over the situation as well as himself.

But her eyes… they were about as alive as the dying Orychophragmus violaceus on his (newly polished) window ledge.

"Listen…" He began, slowly, deliberating.

She listened.

"You're probably wondering why you're here."

She glanced about her, a sarcastic smile pulling at her perfect lips, "Mm, Probably."

"Just need to run through some basics with you about this magazine." He muttered, glancing down at his planner on the desk and grabbing it, hoping she didn't somehow figure out he had no idea what he was saying or doing at all.

She just watched him, carefully.

Flicking importantly through the faded pages in his brown leather book, Ichigo pretended to scan the scrawls printed on the lines.

"Hate to interrupt you, but your personal assistant has already been through basics with me and every other member of staff. She's very efficient and has already issued us all a topic… I know exactly what I'm going to do."

He blinked behind his fringe and surveyed the small, almost diabolical smirk on her lips.

Why was it so damn enticing?!

Then, as if to prevent the smirk from widening, her white teeth rested teasingly on her lower lip…

White was an interesting colour… Especially when it clouded one's vision…

"Sir?" She was glancing up at him, mildly intrigued, "Something wrong?"

"Yes, there is something damn well wrong." The growl that rumbled in his throat was enough to cause even the unshakable Miss Kuchiki to shift in her seat. He had apparently stood up and was glaring irately – not that she could see – down at his infuriating employee. Slamming one powerful fist down on the table, he leaned forwards, "You… You will get what is coming to you one day."

"I do hope you're not threatening me." She replied, her soft tones interestingly quiet and soothing.

"No. I'm warning you, Miss Kuchiki…" Drawing a deep breath inwards and pushing his face closer to hers, he murmured, "If you don't stop this act, I am going to go insane."

One pencil thin eyebrow arched, and Miss Kuchiki stood up, her slim fingers brushing down her skirt, "Insane? Are you? Perhaps if that's the case, I should write all about it in my article. Thank you, Sir… you've been a help, after all." She inclined her head and spun around, gracefully making her way from his office and through the door, allowing it to close behind her, the sound echoing distantly in his burning ears.

And she was gone… Just like that… though, she had left a hint of her alluring scent behind her… as well as a very unhappy boss.

He stared at the brown wood that separated him from her.

Compelled by shock, he had no other option but to sit down… Surely, she wasn't serious.

She couldn't possibly write about him in her next article… not if she wanted to keep her job.

But even as the thoughts tried to quell the rising frustration overpowering his mind, he felt no peace at all.

Mr Ichigo Kurosaki would not put a damned thing past that woman.

Not in a billion years.

…

"I _told _you I would be the author of the sexual health section." Rangiku announced to Yumichika, proudly.

"It doesn't surprise me in the slightest, Rangiku." Yumi replied, tapping away at his keyboard, disinterestedly.

"I'm just wondering exactly what you're going to put in there…" Ikkaku mused, resting his elbow on the back of his chair as he turned to look at her.

Rangiku laughed, merrily, "Don't be ridiculous! There's so much to put in there. I've already started my list!" She flashed a slip of white paper quickly in front of their faces, grinning.

"Let's see… Ooh, you could put: Top ten ways of knocking somebody out with using only your boobs." Yumi suggested, the bitter sarcasm lining his tone.

"What do you think, Rukia?" Rangiku turned to glance at her petite, raven haired colleague, smiling slightly as she ignored all comments from the man sitting beside her.

Shrugging lightly, Rukia attempted to return her smile, "Well… I don't know… Sexual health, did you say? What have you already got on your list?" She asked, feigning interest.

"Well… Sex positions, and their pros and cons… protection and contraception… support for those who are nervous in case they're pregnant, or something."

"Exactly how much more is there to sex?" Ikkaku asked, curiously.

"Now careful there, Ikkaku, I'd hate for my relatively high opinion of you to falter…" Rangiku warned him, chewing on the end of her pen.

Rukia was about to contribute to the conversation again, mainly to avoid causing dispute about why she was (potentially) keeping silent and so on… Well, the fact that she was plotting her revenge against Kurosaki would not have been an appropriate answer, therefore she resorted to trying to be a normal colleague and chatting light-heartedly with the others… even if just for a day… but an unexpected buzz from her phone prevented her from carrying out her small master plan.

Sighing and opening the new message, she felt her stomach tighten a little grumpily as she saw the text was from Kaien.

_I do hope you have the notes for me today, darling wife._

Oh. Now, _there_ was a problem.

…

"So… you mean to tell me… you didn't take a single note?"

Rukia was standing in the kitchen, her coat not even unbuttoned before the onslaught of fury from Kaien's angry tones reached her ears. She blinked, and took a step back, pushing the front door closed, her eyes fixed on him, "That _is _what I said in my text, yes."

Kaien took a step forwards and narrowed his eyes, the proximity between them thinning, "And if you recall what _I _said prior to this meeting… I told you to take notes."

Rukia remained silent, her fingers moving to unclasp the fasteners on her coat.

"Well? What do you have to say about that?"

She took a step towards him and gave a small shake of her head, "Absolutely nothing."

Before she could make another move, his hand had clasped around her wrist and he dragged her towards him, the malice burning behind his emerald eyes, "Are you completely inapt to follow one simple instruction?!" The level of volume in his voice had risen and Rukia felt it necessary to hold his gaze just for a little while longer, and she nodded.

"Yes, Kaien. I am. The one simple instruction I refused to follow was that I would not be forced to be your object or your item. You don't need the notes from the monthly meeting because I will tell you exactly what you need to hear. Now let _go_ of me." She tried to pull her arm from his iron grip, but he did not budge, his fingers holding onto her tighter.

Her eyes widened for a moment and she took a quiet breath, "_Kaien_."

"I will not let you go."

"You will let me go or you will not hear what I have to say." She hissed, the twinging she felt in her wrist becoming more and more difficult to cope with.

Kaien's lip curled, "Excuse me? Now we're doing this on _your _conditions? Listen to me, Miss Kuchiki, I hired you. Not the other way around. You will sit down and write down every scrap of information you can remember about the monthly meeting, do you understand me?"

She could tell it wasn't a question.

Setting her jaw, she tore her wrist from his hand and the force jerked his body forwards. Perhaps that wasn't the best idea right then, but also right then, Rukia could not find one damn to give. Sweeping past him, she moved to sit down and drop her handbag onto the hard wood surface of the table, the loud thud issuing being the only sound that echoed through the kitchen.

After a few moments, Rukia pressed two fingertips against her temple and closed her eyes, "What do you want to know then?" She asked, refraining from allowing the impatience to leak into her words.

"What was the major change that our beloved Kurosaki made today, hm?" Kaien asked, standing behind Rukia and placing his hands on her shoulders.

The trouble was that she didn't want his hands anywhere near her. Stiffening at his touch, Rukia replied, quietly, "Women's health magazine. Next major project. Perhaps if it's successful, we'll turn it into a permanent thing."

To her surprise, Kaien burst into fits of raucous laughter, "Really, Kurosaki? _That's _what you're throwing at me? A fucking health magazine – for women, no less! How… how pathetic." He shook his head as his fingers slid from her shoulders, "It's a wonder he's made it this far."

_And it's also a wonder I haven't slapped you yet_. Rukia closed her eyes, tersely, "For all you know, Kaien, Mr Kurosaki may have a greater plan in mind."

This slowed down his gleeful footsteps, and the man turned to fix his glistening green eyes at Rukia, "What? You know something?" He asked, his voice low and forcibly imploring – signature tone of Kaien, of course.

She inhaled, softly, "Not at all. All I'm implying is that there is a reason he's made it this far, and you would do well to not underestimate him."

She wasn't quite sure why she appeared to be standing up for her boss… especially after the way he had treated her that day… but she did know that the one person she loathed more than Kurosaki… was Kaien.

"Sounds like you know something I don't know… or that you're on his side." Kaien raised his eyebrows and tapped his chin in deep thought, presumably expecting some kind of reaction from his employee.

Well, it was about time he used his brain; Rukia could practically see the dust clouding his mind. He really didn't use it often enough.

"Will that be all? That is… providing you're leaving right now."

"I am? When did we make that distinction?"

"_We _didn't." Rukia replied, firmly, standing up and pulling her handbag strap over her shoulder, "_I _did. Goodnight, Kaien."

Surveying her through unreadable eyes, he shook his head, moving one step closer so the front of his shirt was brushing the fabric of her blouse, "No. As we've already decided, it's me who makes the decisions around here. Besides… it would be rude for me to leave when your brother's expecting me to be here when he gets back."

There was food for thought.

Where the hell was Byakuya?

"Where is he?" Her voice was low and venomous. Kaien had better give her a satisfactory answer, or she may feel herself lose all control over her ever climbing anger.

"Your wine stock was running a little thin… He's gone out for more." Kaien sent her a small, arrogant smirk – the kind that really grated on her nerves, but not in a way that made her want to rip off his shirt… like it may have done with certain other, unmentionable individuals…

"Maybe you should bring your own next time. Or better yet, have it at your own place." Rukia took a step back, the anger rising in her stomach, "Surely my brother's finance problem hasn't slipped your oh-so-superior mind, has it?" She asked, acidly.

"You're quite the vicious little bitch at times, aren't you?" He spat, "Now… while we're waiting, you're going to write out exactly what I tell you to write, okay? After all, this is what you're getting paid to do… Unless of course you're incapable of doing it yourself. Believe me, I'm not afraid of replacing you, Rukia." His voice was low and surprisingly solemn as he threatened her position, dangerously.

"Rukia? Is that you?" Byakuya came through the door, looking as perplexed as a man such as he could look – which still meant all his hair was still in place, his face was barely even flushed, and his breathing was still relatively regular… The only difference was that his eyes were moving quicker than usual as they flickered from Rukia to Kaien.

Rukia knew he was no fool. She knew he could probably tell they had been arguing due to the remnants of exasperation still clinging to their features. Managing to wipe what she could of the betrayal of emotion from her face, she sent her brother a small smile, "Yes. How has your day been?" She asked, watching as he placed two bottles of – rather expensive – wine on the kitchen counter.

"My day has been moderately busy, though not as productive as I should have liked."

Well, considering he'd probably just spent his evening buying wine for the man who wanted to marry his sister, then it was quite understandable that he was suitably unsatisfied with the direction of the day's work.

"Is everything okay between the two of you?" He asked, keeping the suspicion free from his tone, though Rukia knew it was still there.

Although he asked Rukia, Kaien straightened up and took a step towards Byakuya, "Of course. We were just about to discuss business… but…" He took one of the bottles and unscrewed the lid, forcing a civil smile onto his lips, "…that can wait. For now, let us celebrate!"

Rukia only wished she knew just exactly what they were celebrating for, because she sure as hell couldn't see it.

Judging by the flicker of vacancy that passed by Byakuya's ever steely eyes as they watched Kaien help himself to the wine, neither could he.

…

The sound of the front door closing had never sounded so damn good. Rukia exhaled softly and leaned against the counter, completely exhausted.

Just one visit with Kaien seemed to feel like an entire week's worth of work.

Perhaps a positive was that she did not have to go into great detail with Kaien in relation to business, and that would have been a sure one way ticket to losing her temper very quickly. She did not feel like telling him she'd been distracted, or that she had no idea exactly what her boss had in mind, but she did know that she was grateful that she could now just sleep it all away.

"Rough day?"

Rukia's eyes opened – which was curious considering she wasn't even aware they were closed in the first place – and they fixed themselves wearily on her brother, "Hm?" The small smile that pulled at her lips felt as though it was cutting right through the fragile skin on her cheeks, "No. It's been completely adequate, thank you." She told him, blatantly lying, pushing back from the marble counter with her weakening palms, "But, I think I ought to retire to bed. I have a lot of work ahead of me."

Sighing quietly to himself, Byakuya nodded, opening the cupboard and placing the remainder of the wine on the top shelf a little, what Rukia assumed to be, despairingly… a place that would require a great effort to reach. It was as if he knew just how tempting wine was to Rukia at times such as this… Well, just because she was small, it didn't mean she would have a problem in fetching it down if she really wanted to… Kaien was enough motivation for even the most self-controlled individual to become an alcoholic…

But that thought was far too tempting right then, and she needed to get herself off to bed.

"Goodnight." She bowed her head in Byakuya's direction, and he stood stiffly for a moment, surveying her through tight, metallic eyes.

"Listen…" He began, awkwardly, taking one small step towards his sister, before he placed one hand on her shoulder, "… Just… Just keep going. You're doing… exceptionally well."

Before another word could be passed by either of them, the older Kuchiki had swiftly swept from the current room they were standing in and fled to his safe sanctuary upstairs.

If she wasn't feeling so drained, Rukia may have found it within herself to even express a small breath of laughter at her brother's uncanny knack of making even the simplest of emotions a difficult and almost painful, ordeal.

Dragging herself upstairs and blindly getting herself ready, Rukia could barely allow one more sensible thought to enter her mind before she fell into the mattress and buried her face in her pillows.

…

Okay, finally.

She could get stuck right in.

After a refreshing sleep, Rukia had finally managed to organise her thoughts. She knew exactly what she had to do.

As she finished recording herself a list of mental notes that needed completing, she began to type away at her computer.

That morning had opened up a lot of leeway for her to get her thoughts and emotions into check. The previous night had really taken it out of her, and it was time to get back on top of everything.

Whether he admitted it or not, Byakuya was grateful for Rukia's help, and as far as he was concerned, she was doing an excellent job.

She knew Kaien was not altogether impressed with her… especially considering the text he had sent her that morning.

She sighed and pushed the thought away. There was no way Kaien would even dare to bring somebody else on her job… He knew better than anyone else that she was the only one who had the means to bring Kurosaki down. So far, she was doing an excellent job… It would just take a while for results to manifest themselves. That was all.

"Hey, Rukia, you seem pretty ready to go today." Rangiku commented, smiling over at Rukia, and sipping her coffee delicately, "You had a good time last night or something?"

Rukia knew exactly what her busty colleague was inferring, but she just smiled and shook her head, "No. I'm just looking forwards to getting started on my article."

"Well, judging by your expression, there's definitely something that happened to you last night that I could write about in _my _article." She wiggled her eyebrows, suggestively, and nudged Rukia's arm with her elbow.

"On the contrary, I had a terrible evening, but I'm determined I'm going to make up for that today." She told her, firmly, a small smile placed on her lips.

"Who's _that _guy?" Yumichika interrupted, indicating his head towards the door, and Rangiku pressed her palm to his face, pushing him away.

"We're busy talking." She told him, stubbornly, but poor Yumi persisted.

"I'm surprised _you _weren't the first to notice him. He is a male after all…" He sighed, knocking her hand away from his head, and turning to fix his eyes on the new arrival.

"Oh, sweet Kami."

Well, judging by the rapid modification in Rangiku's tone, she had discovered the new male to be moderately appealing to the eye. It was only a second later that Rukia felt an urgent tap on her shoulder.

It was a chore not to roll her eyes at being interrupted once again from getting on with her work by Rangiku, "What, Ran?" She asked, trying hard to keep the irritation from her tones.

When her colleague didn't reply, Rukia clicked her tongue and turned to see what all the fuss was about.

Oh.

What…

Why…

She felt her violet eyes widen, and just for a moment, Miss Rukia Kuchiki was caught off guard.

Rangiku, of course was fixing her eyes on his tremendously well-built body clothed beneath a smart, black suit; but Rukia's eyes were far too busy searching his features.

A sharply defined face revealed itself, framed by a jagged mop of shocking, bright red hair.

And just when she felt that finally, she could bring herself up and out of the threatening void, she felt her entire world shatter around her into shards of broken hearts and faded memories...

It couldn't be…

…_Renji_.

**Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to let me know what you want. This story is not just written for my own pleasure – but for you guys!**

**Thanks again.**

**X**


	6. Scarlet

**A/N: Just to begin with, I am so sorry for the long delay! Life has been insane lately! But I won't bore you with all my crap! Sorry if I didn't respond to everybody's reviews, but I assure you I loved reading each and every one of them. So, thank you to ****KuroKuchiki, ****NieveDrop****, ****star133, ****Jackknife-Jack****,****cAmeLkiZ4****, ****ZIRS****, ****KaizokuGotenks****, ****ChApPyLoVe3****, ****Ray, ****pinkomamori****, ****shhh.I'm famous,**** Lerik, and the two unnamed guest reviewers! Honestly, thank you so much for your patience and apologies that this chapter is not as long as the previous one, but I promise I will try my hardest to update more often now college is over!**

The slight gasp that emitted from Rukia's panicking lungs was echoed by a similar sound from Rangiku's parted lips, "I… I know…"

No.

No, she _didn't _know.

That was the whole point! She had _no_ idea whatsoever!

Rukia was not gawking over his impressive aura, or his individualistic style… In fact, she wasn't exactly even gawking.

Rukia never gawked. It just wasn't a word she used to describe her reaction to an unexpected event, at all. She would use the term 'mildly surprised', or 'a little taken aback'.

"Who _is _he?" Rangiku asked, faintly.

Of course, Rukia had never specified just whose heart did get broken, but it was pretty clear to say that both vital organs in her and his chest were severely damaged after everything that had transpired between the two.

But, she did not feel like reliving that experience right then – her mind neither contained the strength, nor the capability, to do so.

Her questioning violaceous eyes glued to his body as he strutted easily away from Mr Kurosaki's office, seemingly oblivious to the stares that he was currently receiving by the majority of members in the office.

He must have been aware of Miss Inoue fretting fearfully behind him as he walked, begging to make him a coffee – because it would take somebody who was both blind and deaf not to notice her… Squealing in that unnecessary manner… it was infuriating as always.

Rukia expelled a quiet breath of disbelief that she didn't realise had been concealing itself in her throat, until she watched him casually take a seat at the opposite end of the office.

It was as though he had been working there the entire time.

She hadn't seen him since they had broken up. He just left. Disappeared. Only to return again, three years later, and barely even spare her a glance as though he knew she would be there already. What… what was the point behind any of this?

Surely, there was some reason he had shown up here and now… For goodness sake, he wasn't even a writer!

"Rukia, are you alright?" Rangiku asked, her eyes still not leaving the new recruit.

She nodded, mutely, returning her attention back to her screen.

Well, if he was going to ignore her, he could sure as hell expect her to do the same.

Why was it that all of a sudden, the irritation she experienced was suddenly preventing her from completing her genius idea of an assignment?

_Jobs and Mental Health._

She knew she would make sure to write about all the different factors that can negatively impact one's mental health within the work environment – in fact, she had already written a relatively good introduction, which she was sure would be considered exceptional even by _his_ standards.

Not that she was bragging, or anything – but she always liked to accept the fact that if she had written a good report, she would damn well know about it.

Well, it most certainly was easy to blame certain individuals if work was beginning to overwhelm you.

She tapped away at the keyboard, attempting to rid her mind of the occasional unexpected flash of scarlet hair.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Rukia closed her eyes briefly.

It was only brief, because the second she heard Rangiku speak, she knew exactly who it was going to be about – and also _what _it was going to be about.

"I think I just died. Oh, sweet Kami above, did you see him?" She whispered tacitly, to nobody in particular.

"I wonder if he's gay…" Yumichika exhaled, dreamily.

"Oh, like hell he is. Dream on, Yumi… I just don't think even you are quite yummy enough for him."

"Will you shut up? I do not want to be known as yummy Yumi for heaven's sake."

Sick.

That was the only word to describe how Rukia felt at that moment in time. Excusing herself, she stood up and headed to the door, her ribs weakening as her breathing quickened.

She found herself rather hoping that when she went back into the offices, that he would have disappeared – by either the sudden urge to leave, or the sudden… death…

Before she knew what exactly her body was doing, Rukia found herself heaving against some solid object, the brightness blinding her.

The wind might as well just whip her harder than it already was doing; that way she'd at least be able to feel something.

Anything.

Anything except this plummeting sickness plaguing her stomach and tightening her throat.

"Rukia?" Her eyes flew open, and in her burst of (not so) spontaneous fury, she spun on the spot, her arm flinging out in front of her and backing the unfortunate victim up against the back wall of the offices.

The vulnerable individual currently trapped between her iron lock and the wall widened his eyes, "Please, Rukia, what are you doing?" His voice bordered on desperation, and there was not a tone Rukia loved more coming from the man who, in the process of destroying her, managed to destroy himself.

But also, the strain grasping at the tenors leaving his throat was almost enough to make Rukia want to become a sadist.

_Almost_, of course.

Always almost.

But it appeared the poor redhead was having extreme difficulty in breathing – which, of course, must have been a shame.

Poor guy.

"You know, I've been wanting to ask you the same question all day." She returned, darkly, refusing to unlock the prison she had him held in.

A moment of silence passed between them, before he tore himself from her lock and pushed her back a step, "What the fuck are you talking about?" He demanded, between gasps, leaning forwards to support his hands on his knees, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

The cold gaze swept his appearance up and down, and he knew just exactly how angry she was – in fact, 'anger' probably didn't quite cover it – but all this just infuriated her more, considering he was still playing dumb as always!

"What…" She began, the acid melting each of her words, "…are you doing here?" She pronounced every syllable with such venomous precision, that Renji was not faced with much choice except to reply.

If he wanted to live, silence really was not an option.

"Working for Kurosaki, of course." He responded, suddenly finding it within himself to regain what masculinity he had left, and puffing out his chest – although his answer was still a little shaky from the knock-on effect of being so violently assaulted.

"Really?" Her eyebrows raised, and a small, sarcastic smile pulled at both corners of her lips, "Well isn't that marvellous?"

Tilting his head back to rest against the bricks, he muttered, moodily, "Don't fucking look at me like that. It's the damn truth."

"I know it's the truth, dammit! I am not a moron, Renji!" Her feet carried her yet another step closer, her eyes fixing dangerously onto his exposed neck, unable to prevent herself from noticing the surfacing shadow of a dark bruise.

Good.

"Well, why did you ask then, hm? There's your answer."

"I want the whole answer, Renji. Not just your crappy made up excuse 'Working for Kurosaki' bull-crap. You don't even write!"

Adjusting his collar, irritably, Renji swallowed, "I'm an editor." The delicacy behind his tones almost made Rukia sick.

"An editor!" She exclaimed, in disbelief, "What modified your aspiration in life! I thought you were training to be a fighter!"

Tartly, he glowered at her and hissed, "Well, some people change. Others clearly don't. You're just still the same arrogant, self-centred little–"

That one earned him a slap.

Positively furious.

Possibly overreacting.

But not one single damn was given by her on that day.

"Renji, you left." Her voice seemed to soften considerably once she had released her fury onto his left cheek, and uncomfortably, he scratched the back of his neck as she continued, "For good. Why change that now? Why change that when we've moved on? Why here?"

"By chance, Rukia. It was by chance." Exhaling, he ran a hand through his crimson hair, "Nothing to do with you, alright? How was I supposed to know you'd even be here, anyway?"

"It was in the papers, Renji. If you're an editor, and wanted to work for this company, you'll have done your research. You knew I was here. You knew this was my sect. You knew this was my office."

"It was all by chance." He insisted, trying to ignore the way Rukia was attempting to regulate her wild anger.

"Chance!" She repeated, "Renji, you _don't_ write!"

"Like I said, I'm not here to write… I'm here to edit." He reminded the petite woman before him, testily.

Unimpressed, Miss Kuchiki clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "If you do not offer me a feasible explanation that does not involve the word 'chance', then I will beat it out of you in ten seconds flat – and you know I will."

"I don't doubt it." He sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "Look, can we not just discuss this later… once I've got settled in? How about over a coffee?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Too soon. Next week?"

"Monday."

"It's a date." He replied, a little faintly, folding his arms across his chest, "Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to get back to work."

"Oh, not at all. I wouldn't want to keep you from your precious editing now, would I?" She spoke, mock-sweetly, "After all, we both know how much it means to you, don't we?"

After laying down her slightly sardonic remark, she strode straight past him, and sat down at her desk, all inspiration completely leaving her mind.

Did she really care about getting back at Kurosaki now?

…

"Hikaru! Hikaru, get _back _here this instant!" She was fed up of telling him to slow down. A pair of socks would hear more than this boy did! "Hikaru, we are by the road." Rukia rarely ran – for one, it was not in her custom to openly admit her hurry, or panic – but, when Hikaru was running dangerously close to the edge of the road, certain situations altered these characteristics of hers.

Chasing after the small boy, Rukia held out her hand and pulled him away from the cars, "Hikaru!"

Sheepishly, he turned to face her, his cheeks glowing, "Sorry, Aunty Rukia."

Crouching down opposite him, she rested her delicate hands on his small shoulders and shook her head, "Now, you listen to me, young man; do you know why we don't run near roads?"

Slowly, Hikaru nodded his head, feeling a little ashamed of himself.

Well, he was being a bit silly, really.

"Why?" Rukia prompted, mildly sternly.

"Because… Because I might fall or get hit by a car." He answered, sighing, quietly.

Straightening back up, Rukia exhaled, "Now, come on, wait until we get to the park, and if you're a good boy, I might consider buying you an ice-cream."

Well, this certainly brightened up the boy's prospects, and he lifted his head up, keeping his small hand fixed in Rukia's and before long, he was happily charging around the playground with the other children.

Watching him with a small, fond smile on her lips, Rukia couldn't exactly place her emotions right then.

Although it had been a couple of days since Renji's arrival, it was still difficult for her to come to terms with it.

They had barely spoke.

It had been far less eventful than she had expected, almost as if nothing had ever happened between them at all.

She had even managed to get pissed off at her boss again – which helped her to be able to revert back to her original, snappy self.

But, of course, images of scarlet blurred her memories every now and again, reminding her that with him around, she may never be able to achieve a state of constant equilibrium.

"Aunty Rukia!"

She whipped her head around upon hearing a squeal and a desperate shout.

Hikaru was slumped on the ground, rocking backwards and forwards, clutching his chin.

_Well, shit._

Hurrying towards him, she crouched down, "Hikaru, let me see." She murmured, softly, her slender fingers resting gently on his small hands.

Reluctantly, he moved the trembling appendages from his crumpled up face, and Rukia's eyes pinpointed a large, bleeding gash on his chin, a bruise on his jaw, and a graze on his nose.

Now, she could understand his tears.

"Hikaru, what happened?" She asked, her voice soft and soothing as she brought him against her chest, wrapping her arms around him.

"Fell…" He whined, his tears soon soaking her light jacket, staining the fabric with moisture.

"Come on, let's get you to a clinic or something, honey." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, standing up as he leaned heavily against her legs.

Momo was going to kill her.

If she was lucky.

…

After several unsuccessful calls, and a significantly large amount of bitten back curses, Rukia finally found herself sitting quietly in a white room belonging to one of the local clinics, a sniffling Hikaru clinging to her neck.

"Listen, honey, I can't seem to get any signal here, do you think you could just sit tight for a few moments while I call your mummy?"

After pondering this proposition carefully, he finally nodded, a small hiccough escaping his throat as Rukia gently placed him down on the seat.

Out in the corridor seemed to prove far more effective.

A couple of attempts later, Momo answered, "_Hello?_"

Sending her best friend her most sincere apology and going on to explain what had happened, Rukia bit her lip, lightly.

Momo sounded stressed enough as it was without this.

"_Rukia, don't worry about it. I trust he's in capable hands. But look, hey, I'm seriously bogged down right now, do you think he'll be alright until around half six, or something?_"

"Just so long as you're alright with that, then we'll be fine, Momo."

Once they'd confirmed a suitable arrangement, Rukia sighed and hung up, heading back into the waiting room.

"But how did you do it, Karu?" A young girl's voice spoke from around the corner where Hikaru was seated.

"Well, it was a funny story, really." His voice seemed to have changed dramatically, but it was definitely Hikaru – was he actually putting on that low, masculine tone on purpose? Or was it the gruff after effects of crying? "See, I got into this fight…"

"A fight?" Jealousy tinged the girl's tones, and Rukia rolled her eyes as she moved to turn the corner, "With somebody other than me? Who was it?"

"The floor."

Rukia's amused smile froze on her lips as her eyes absorbed the scene before her.

There were a couple of reasons for this particular reaction; one, being the fact that Hikaru was actually no longer crying, and managing to crack a witty joke; two, being the fact that the girl he was entertaining had placed one hand on his wrist and was leaning upwards to press a light kiss to his wound; three, being the fact that the girl was… three guesses who… assuming that somebody else heard her thoughts, Rukia congratulated them on potentially attaining the correct answer… yes, the girl was Kurosaki's daughter.

She enjoyed cropping up at the most inconvenient points in time, didn't she? Must have developed that trait from her father.

Despite the fact she had no real characteristics of Mr I. Kurosaki with her jagged, black hair and electric blue eyes, the resemblance was relatively pronounced; when she smiled, she looked positively enchanting – however, that pissy expression she had adopted suddenly was a perfect match to her his.

Opening her mouth to address Hikaru and his young, lady friend, Rukia found herself cut off by a deep, mellow voice, "Young lady, what are you doing in here?"

Her eyes seemed to widen marginally as she tuned in to what the male voice was saying.

Surely that voice was enough to scare off any patient, never mind a young girl.

The girl rolled her startling eyes, pulling away from Hikaru, as she folded her arms, "We are out of milk, Granddad."

_Granddad._

Rukia's eyes turned to rest on the man standing in the doorway, his charcoal hair tamed into manageable spikes. Donned in a white coat and an archetypal stethoscope, the doctor raised a dark eyebrow in the direction of his… granddaughter.

There was no mistaking who this man was.

She could see it in the jawline… in the concentrated masculinity on each of his features.

"Now, now, young lady, stop chatting up all of the gentlemen and head back into the house, please." He sighed, rolling his brown eyes, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Hikaru isn't a gentleman, Granddad…" Mirroring his expression, she rested one hand on her hip, "…He's my boyfriend. Honestly… Anyway, when's Mummy and Daddy coming to pick me up?"

"You're stopping at Aunty Yuzu's tonight, honey. Daddy and Mummy have to work early tomorrow." He pointed back to the direction of the house, "Now, go on. In. I'll take care of your boyfriend."

Nodding obediently, she sent Hikaru a bright smile before skipping happily away.

Rukia did not even bother conjuring up a thought process to accompany what she had witnessed.

Were the Kurosakis _everywhere_?

…

"So, you must be new to his town, am I right?" Doctor Kurosaki rested his hands easily on his knees as he glanced down at Rukia, inquisitively.

"Mm." She nodded, distracted by the image sitting on his desk.

Unmistakably, the man in the middle resting his hands on an attractive woman's shoulders was the doctor. Two tiny girls were cradled in what Rukia presumed to be their mother's arms, one with a tuft of black hair, and the other bald. Prominent was the small figure clinging to the beautiful lady's leg, a huge grin plastered to his lips. His eyes were just visible beneath a spiky, bright orange fringe, although his smile was so wide, his eyelids were scrunched closed, preventing Rukia from catching a glimpse of his true colours.

Rukia reckoned that was what happiness looked like from the outside.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Master and Ms…"

"Miss Kuchiki. And this is Hikaru Kagome. I'm his child minder." She replied, managing to tear her eyes aware from the picture.

For a moment, her thoughts were distracted from Renji as she pondered what terrible misdeed could have been inflicted upon this young, orange-haired boy to change him into the stressed, uptight man he was today.

Maybe her mind was otherwise too preoccupied to notice a flicker of recollection pass by Dr Kurosaki's eyes, but she just smiled as he bowed his head.

"Dr Isshin Kurosaki at your service." He sent her a charming grin before turning his attention to Hikaru.

A few stitches and antiseptic wipes later, Hikaru was finally all patched up, and appearing a lot happier now he had something to brag to his friends about.

"Miss Kuchiki, would you mind me asking you what your first name is?" He asked, quietly, and mildly shocked at the sudden dramatic change to his tone, she raised one eyebrow.

"Rukia."

After a moment's thought, Dr Kurosaki shook his head, "Ah, right, of course. Sorry, it's just I thought I knew you." Standing up, he brushed down his white coat and indicated to the door, "It would be terrible for me to say I hope to see you again soon, wouldn't it?"

This wry remark pulled a smile at one corner of Rukia's lips and she sighed, "Yes, I suppose it would. Thank you, Doctor." Leading Hikaru by the hand, she took him outside.

It wasn't until Momo had picked him up, and she had managed to get an assignment completed before she felt the severe exhaustion weigh down her every limb, practically pinning them to the mattress.

A few moments later, Rukia felt herself finally slip off into a well-deserved slumber.

…

"So, look… Rukia…" He swirled the coffee around in his mug, that familiar, forced awkwardness he adapted to his demeanour to make women feel sorry for him.

She could count each and every method of Renji's that he used in order to get laid. Apparently, he still thought they'd work on her.

Apathetically, she just watched him glance up at her, his eyes flickering to meet hers – there was yet another characteristic that he believed helped him pull.

"Renji, just stop… alright? I decided I don't actually care why you're here." That may have been a little white lie, there… But in honesty, she was not sure she could continue on with this.

Sitting across from Renji, sipping lukewarm coffee, searching for words to say drowned her with a sickening sense of nostalgia.

His eyes could not be labelled by just using the traditional 'blue', 'green', 'brown' or 'grey' descriptions. As he tossed his scarlet fringe from his vision, Rukia expected her heart to involuntarily skip a beat as it used to when she saw his tinged brownish-reddish irises land on hers.

…Which was completely ridiculous considering her heart wasn't supposed to do things such as 'skip beats' or 'speed up' unless she was taking part in highly strenuous activity – which as far as she was concerned, she was not when she originally fell captive to Renji's entrancing stare.

However, despite the fact her heart was already beating faster than usual, it remained constant and kept pounding on without missing any beats at all.

Although, she did feel her cheeks colour ever so slightly, when he went on to murmur, "I think you already know exactly why I'm here." His voice was low, gentle and meaningful – it appeared he was willing to use each and every one of his tactics to win her back over onto his side again.

"No, I think the entire point of this… situation… is for you to explain to me just what you're doing coming here becauseI certainly _don't _know." Her response was tight and chilly – no way was she falling for it again.

Not after what happened last time.

Not until he explained himself in complete detail to her.

And grovelled.

He suddenly decided to stop pretending to drink his coffee, and he placed it down on the round, polished wooden table before them, "For goodness sake, I miss you. When you left, I couldn't stop thinking about you, okay? But I knew you wouldn't want me back, so I let you alone in the hopes that you would one day realise how much you missed me too."

Even as he spoke them, to Rukia they sounded farfetched and vain.

When _she _left? Correct her if she was wrong, but if she remembered – and she did… vividly – it was him who walked out on her, never even chancing a second glance at her.

But what other possible explanation could there be for all this?

Was there something deeper behind all this?

Everything around her became detached and distant – there was not one possible chance in hell he meant what he said, "Tell me the truth, Renji. If you give me one more piece of bullshit like that, I am literally going to force that coffee cup down your throat."

Renji generally took her threats very seriously as he had fallen into the trap of brushing them off lightly far too many times in the past.

She would never often offer out threats, unless she was experiencing a high level of emotional stress – and Renji must have known this as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the quiet creaks breaking the sudden silence.

"Rukia, I'm serious. When have I ever lied to you?" He stared at her after a moment of readjusting himself.

"Do you mean aside from each time you opened your mouth?" She quipped, glancing him up and down, a pencil thin eyebrow arching upwards.

Standing up, apparently tired of the constant onslaught of interrogating questions, Renji folded his jacket over his arm and shook his head, "Forget it. I come to try and apologise, and all I get is abuse."

Mirroring his actions, Rukia stood gracefully to her feet, her eyes landing on him, "Don't use words you don't understand. It shows people how stupid you actually are."

"Oh, and what words might they be?" He hissed, spinning around to face her, their noses barely inches apart.

"Aren't you even smart enough to work them out on your own?" She mused, making a conscious effort not to raise her voice – she despised public spectacles. Turning away from him, she left her intoxicating scent behind her, gliding towards the door, her silent anger bubbling deep within her chest.

Once the fresh air hit the back of her throat, Rukia hoped she would have felt instantly more controlled or at ease. But instead, all she felt was dizzy and confused.

Her body and mind were being wrenched in so any directions, she could do nothing save compress a frustrated scream into a quiet sigh before she could feel herself being pulled around by a tight grip on her upper arm.

Blindly, she stared upwards, crimson flashing before her eyes as something soft and moist touched her lips.

Unable to even comprehend what had just happened, she fell back a step and allowed her eyes time to refocus on the image before her.

A figure that could have been Renji pulled away from her, allowing the rays from the setting sun to stream past his hair into her eyes.

"What… the hell… did you just do…?" She managed to ask him, her voice fainter than she had originally intended.

"I just fucking kissed you, Rukia. What do you think I just did? I told you I'm serious about this. I'm here because I want you back and I don't mind waiting until you see that you really are the only one I want."

"You'll be waiting for a long time, Renji. You'll be waiting for a very long time." She responded, forcing herself to head back through town in the direction of home, leaving him standing, staring after her.

…

"Where have you been?" Byakuya was leaning against the counter, surveying her dishevelled appearance with eyes that informed him of detail that even a hawk may miss.

Dishevelled, of course, in Byakuya's opinion meant that a strand of hair was misplaced, or a stray piece of cotton was resting on one's clothing… or that lip products such as lipstick or lip gloss were slightly smudged…

"I went to the coffee shop after work." She replied, his presence immediately reminding its body to revert back to muscle memory and straighten up properly, balancing her head sophisticatedly on her neck, and to wipe the corners of her lips primly with a handkerchief, "Where have you been?" She returned, suddenly deciding that the pots in the sink needed washing…

…Well, they did, really.

It wasn't just an excuse to avoid eye contact with her brother at that point in time…

Actually, it was.

She sighed inwardly as she realised her internal conflicts were becoming increasingly more ridiculous.

Her hands dipped into the hot soapy water, and her mind only half focused on her brother's nonchalant response.

"I was out."

Rukia didn't ask her brother unnecessary questions as a rule. But she couldn't help but wonder just what he was doing in his spare time while she, Rukia, was busy getting _him _out of debt.

Perhaps she was only just beginning to accept these bitter thoughts about him, because her mind was so caught up in the confusion resulting from that day.

"Doing what?"

"Who was at the coffee shop with you? Kaien?" He evaded her question, entirely, asking yet another of his own.

"No." She breathed, quietly, "As a matter of fact, it was Renji." She continued, in an attempt to be dismissive to her brother's questions. If he wouldn't answer hers, why should she answer his?

The only sound that could be heard for the next couple of moments was the water sloshing against the sides of the sink as Rukia tried to think what other topic of conversation she could bring up.

"Renji Abarai?" Apparently, he beat her to it.

"Mm."

"What were you doing… having a coffee… with him?" He demanded, his voice remaining at the same volume, only his pronunciation harsher.

"I believe you just answered your own question. I was having a coffee with Renji Abarai after work. How can I put that in simpler terms, Byakuya?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Rukia. You playing coy does not make me want to play nice."

Sighing, and stacking a plate on the rack with unnecessary force, she shrugged one slight shoulder, "Byakuya, in all the years I have known you, you have never once 'played' anything. If you require a specific answer, I require a specific question."

He was probably mildly taken aback at her sharpness, but for once in her life, Rukia wanted to feel as though she was not subject to yet another individual and that she did not _have _to answer every question honestly, or carry out whatever orders were given her, or… or even be forced to accept a kiss.

Perhaps, it was petty, but there was only so much Rukia was willing to go through before she was compelled to release herself out of this cage she had locked herself in.

"Why did you go for a coffee with Renji?" He asked, his voice concealing any possible worries he may have had about what his younger sister's ex-boyfriend was doing, taking her out to a coffee shop at such a random time.

"To talk over a few things."

"Such as what?"

"Does it matter?"

Byakuya exhaled, "Yes, it matters, Rukia. I don't want you making the same mistake twice. Remember that you and Kaien seem to have some form of emotional attachment to each other."

"I think you mean 'officially dating'." She spoke the words as though they were poison to her lips, though of course, Byakuya was too busy focusing his thoughts on what Renji wanted from his sister to notice.

"Is he romantically interested in you, Rukia?" He asked, the words clearly nothing but alien to him.

Dropping the rubber gloves over the edge of the sink, carelessly, and pivoting around to face her brother, Rukia raised one arm in a half-shrug which she hoped did not convey her despair, as that would raise even more questions, and Kami forbid that happen, "I don't know, Byakuya. I really don't. But look, I'm tired. I need rest."

"You haven't had any dinner."

"Not hungry." For goodness sake, sometimes she swore he thought he was her father.

After closing her bedroom door shut, she felt her eyelids slide shut and rested against the hard wood behind her back.

Just before she was about to take sanctuary in slipping down to the floor, two thuds either side of her arms enticed her to open her eyes.

Oh, how she wished she never had.

His voice, one she had become accustomed to blanking out, was now unavoidably close; his eyes, two bright emeralds, burned into hers; one intention and one intention only, screaming from his every limb as he pressed his body against hers, "Hello, honey… Nice day? Good. Well, I can guarantee you… it's about to get a whole lot better… See, I've been waiting for you all evening…"

**Thank you for reading – don't forget to drop me a review! **

**Xo**


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